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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594">The Wolf Among Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootlegtruth/pseuds/bootlegtruth'>bootlegtruth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>iKON (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe—Vampires, Blood, Death, Eventual Romance, Gods and Goddesses, Hybrids, Linked Footnotes, M/M, Manipulation, Mild Sexual Content, Murder, Suicide, Temporary Death, Violence, Werewolves, Witches, a handful of flashbacks, don't come for me i have very limited knowledge about everything and i already maximized them all, honestly a mix of all fictional fantasy creatures because I'm different™, it's a normal occurence, listen I tried, lots of them - Freeform, mentions of abuse, please read them, sometimes very graphic, the amount of plot holes in this fic will trigger your trypophobia, tricky storylines that kinda don't make sense</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:42:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootlegtruth/pseuds/bootlegtruth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a witch who was born without magic and a wolf born with the curse of immortality were both considered abominations of nature. Hanbin has a dilemma, Jiwon has an ultimatum.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Hanbin | B.I/Kim Jiwon | Bobby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. once there was a wolf who ruled the land</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I'm back with a new long fic that I hope I'll get to finish lmao. Anyway, this was supposed to be a weekly update but I got caught up with my other duties and I worked like a whole month to finish one chapter (I have five chapters ready as of now) so I thought it would be a shame to end it early when I worked longer on it. Idk if I make sense lol but the updates will be once I finish a new chapter so it'll most like be indefinite.</p><p>The story was inspired by The Vampire Diaries x The Originals, basically it's a fic on fic in the TVD/TO universe except the characters in the series don't exist here. I added a lot of supernatural elements in here, starting from Greek myths to video games. Speaking of video games, the title was from the game of the same name, The Wolf Among Us. I was playing it one time and I loved it so much I thought, well, what if Double B was a Fable lmao. </p><p>Last one, this fic contains linked footnotes so please click on them for better understanding. Thank you!</p><p>Hope you like this fic just as much as I do!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The legend always starts with a fisherman, a <em> once upon a time </em> in the middle of the ocean in Falconshore, Seoul, a place where monsters live amongst mortals. Always been so for years, and will remain until the end of time. </p><p>The idea of a peaceful coexistence was impossible as it was clear which kind of demon sits atop the hierarchy. Someone who cannot be killed. An immortal being whose mere mention of a name sends a different shiver down one's spine to those who were unfortunate enough to come across them. Nobody knows what they look like, nobody's lived long enough to tell. </p><p>It was the usual serene wind that blanketed the night of 1876, the same cold breeze, some may even call it a loveless touch, caressing the tides and pulling ferrymen into sin, down, down, down, until they drown. It has been a longtime warning not to sail after midnight, word on the street is that a siren was born, furious and vengeful because of the death of a previous lover. She sings a tranquil lullaby, with the voice of an angel and face likewise. She would show up in the middle of the ocean, amidst the cerulean waves and the storm that comes along every breath she takes. Eyes glowing in color like that of where she lives, lips as red as the blood of the men she killed, hair as royal as the plum-colored sky after a typhoon, it flows down to her chest and wraps around her waist like tentacles. She was gorgeous and yet she was feared. The villagers claim that her skin was covered with scales, but it cannot be seen through the naked eye, and one could only guess. </p><p>That night, a different storm was cooking under the heavy clouds, waves that are impossible to cruise in, wind that tears through skin and every possible shield. The previously quiet ocean succumbs into a destructive mess of lightning strikes and roaring thunders. The siren was awoken by a hum, of a lonely fisherman who claimed to have ruptured his own eardrums to avoid hearing her speak, or sing. He threaded past the dangerous rolling billows of water, drenched in high waves and pouring blood. His lips are tight as they vibrate a rhythm he heard in his dreams. To men, it is a sweet melody of hymns, blasting a cacophony of colors every time they close their eyes in enchantment, and when they open them, they're already pulled at the bottom of the ocean, drowning as the siren continues to sing a song nobody fully understands. To women, it is a wail of desperate pleas, of someone who calls and wishes to be heard. She chants in sorrow and longing, harmonizing with the flow of waters up above like a cry for help. And yet no one was ever brave enough to reach out. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Lips ripe as the berries in June, red the rose. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Skin pale as the light of the moon, gently as she goes. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Eyes blue like the sea and the sky, water flows. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Heart burning like fire in the night, gently as she goes. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The side of his face is covered in blood, running down to his chin, dripping to his hands fisted into two golden spears. He doesn't hear a thing when they are face to face, and she crumples and turns into a different kind of monster, where beauty fades and all that’s left is terror. Her face is like that of nightmares, with scales climbing up to her waist, and then to her neck, with fangs so long it reaches her chest and she couldn't close her mouth because she's screaming, it's enough to wake a whole village. The ship rises up from the tides, and he becomes leveled with her eyes, of something blue and vivid, it's clear and sparkling and the fisherman wastes no time. He throws the spears at an impossible aim, and they plunge into her eyes and pierce into her head.</p><p>And she wails, and she wails. She cries out a name as the middle of the ocean opens up and swallows her body, down to the bottom where she'd kept all the men she pulled to their death. Just like them, she was never seen again. </p><p>The legend was told in different languages, passed onto generations after generations. Some retell it from a different perspective, where the fisherman is the villain and the siren as the victim slain helplessly without mercy. But it all ends the same, with the ocean birthing a sapphire gemstone—resembling her blue eyes, only to be found by the same fisherman as soon as the ocean closes up.</p><p>But this time though, the retelling takes a different turn. Before he could even raise his arms and throw the spears, his ship gets wrecked into a thousand pieces, all by extreme wrath she possesses. She takes him by the neck as they slowly sink into the water, muffled screams drown as they go mute. He feels her fingers crawling onto his chest, and her long nails piercing through his skin, deeper and deeper until she could touch his heart. </p><p>She rips it out in a single breath. </p><p>"Kim Jiwon," A man calls, but he was already drowning, breathless, hopeless, heartless. He gasps for air but to no avail, there’s only water everywhere.</p><p>"Kim Jiwon." </p><p>He opens his eyes, and he breathes. </p><p>Rubbing his face with his palm as he wakes up, he scrunches his nose and smiles. "What time is it?" He asks. </p><p>It has become a normal occurrence to dream about everyone he'd come across with in the past, especially this year. Jiwon thinks it might be because it was a full moon last night, but frankly so, he knows there's going to be something interesting laid out for him. The more vivid the dream gets, the closer whatever the entity is. </p><p>"What year is it?" </p><p>Jinhwan gives him a look. It's the same one as that of when he digresses or purposely avoids a question by asking another question, and he wants decent answers. Witches always have a knack for getting what they want. </p><p>He tilts his head and squints, "What? Today?" </p><p>"No. The dream." </p><p>Jiwon clicks his tongue, pretending to think. What year did the siren-slaying happen? </p><p>"1870–something." </p><p>He pops his lips playfully and then smirks. </p><p>"1876. It's the siren this time." </p><p>It was a statement. Jinhwan probably takes note of who appears in his dreams for the past six months. It's either someone he left to die or someone he killed himself, and they're all after revenge. It doesn't really bother him because they have all been long gone and bitten the dust, but it gets tiring to wake up with beads of sweat despite being in a fully air-conditioned room every single significant day. Jiwon's over it.</p><p>"Yeah, bummer. I was hoping for some cute action but you know how shit turned out in that story. Very short." </p><p>He gets up from his bed and heads to the bathroom, closing the door. </p><p>As per usual, there are bruises on his chest, nail marks from when Nayeon, the siren, clawed her way into his heart to rip it out in his dream. He watches it heal on its own, regenerating a brand new skin… and then he washes his face and brushes his teeth. He lets it be.</p><p>The thing is, back in 1876, he had compelled a witch (one that isn't Jinhwan because the guy wasn't even born then yet) to stop his body from healing, and that's why his ears didn't go back to normal when he physically ruptured it. It means he only has one chance to finish her, because if she had gotten a hold of him like what happened in his dream last night, he would've been dead. </p><p>Or, at least, dead before his body restarts a new life again. </p><p>But it wasn't like he was worried about what would happen before. There were so many instances where he tried—and successfully did—to rip his own heart out. It's not really considered suicide if you're not dying. He always woke up in a new day, a new heart, a new life. A never-ending cycle for a thousand years.</p><p>He retrieves a grey long-sleeved Henley shirt in the closet and comes out just in time to see the dining table already prepared. It helps to have compelled mortals doing mortal work in the house. Jinhwan had forbidden him to feed on them though, which sucks because he always liked a bit of flesh. He was the one who scoured for them anyway so he lets it slide, it’s not like he’s blood-deprived. If anything, he gets more than what’s necessary. He became a beneficiary at a nearby hospital so he’s intact with their blood bank without much fuss. Jiwon takes pride in the connections he had managed to form through Jinhwan’s help, of course. Mortals are too curious for their own good and if he happens to show himself offhandedly, they’re going to start wondering why he never ages.</p><p>"Any news on the witch Junhoe's been spying on?" </p><p>He pulls a chair beside him, mouth stuffed with bread. </p><p>"Well, that." </p><p>Jinhwan stares at him, eyes suddenly narrowing as if unsure if it was the right time to say something. Jiwon cocks a brow in interest.</p><p>"You're right about him being a White Lotus witch and Junhoe's bringing him home tonight."</p><p>Running a tongue along the seams of his lips, he nods, face breaking in a smile. </p><p>"Gather the troops, clean the house." </p><p>He claps, and then he leans in to whisper in the witch's ear. "We're going to have a celebration." </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>Someone was following him.</p><p>"What time do you get off class again?" </p><p>Hanbin doesn't answer. He's been checking his back frequently because he was sure someone was following them. He saw a shadow, and he felt an energy. It's not just someone, it's someone <em> supernatural. </em> Of what kind, he still doesn't know. But the day’s not going to end without him finding out, that’s for sure.</p><p>"Hey." </p><p>The man beside him pokes his cheek, startling him. He laughs awkwardly and faces the road, their intertwined fingers swaying as he walks him to his building. </p><p>"Around six, I think. Why?" </p><p>He looks up at him and smiles when he does the same. </p><p>"I'm going to fetch you, of course." </p><p>They stop in front, unclasping their hands. Hanbin hides his in the pocket of his jeans shyly, chewing on his bottom lip. </p><p>"Okay, I'll see you later,” he says curtly, feeling a little awkward at the thought of them spending another time together.</p><p>The other guy leans in and plants a kiss on his forehead. It's warm and nice, he closes his eyes. It's only been a week. </p><p>"I'll see you." </p><p>He waves before retreating. Hanbin waves back and waits for him to be gone before deciding to climb up. </p><p>He hasn't made his first step yet when another guy blocks his line of vision, with the same energy the stranger from a while ago—the one following him—was emitting. But he knows who this guy is. </p><p>It's Koo Junhoe. </p><p>Tall, and handsome, with masculine features and textbook brown eyes that turns gold every time he doesn't get what he wants. He's a <em> werewolf.  </em></p><p>"What?" He asks and crosses his arms. </p><p>Three days ago, in the shower room, Junhoe accused him of being a witch, with only the faded half lotus scar on the back of his shoulder as a basis. Hanbin didn't know what to do then, he just ran away without even disputing his accusations. He thought Junhoe would bother him about it in the following days to come but he's suddenly nowhere to be found after that… until now. </p><p>"You're a White Lotus witch. Admit it." </p><p>There's a line of gold running along his pupils, and his lips are quivering as if he's about to show his fangs any minute now. Hanbin trembles, but he fixes his posture and stands straight. Werewolves can very much smell fear, especially if they were this close to each other. Hanbin wasn’t<em> exactly </em> afraid, he was taken aback that he suddenly got caught.</p><p>"What is it to you?" He snarls, trying to get past him and that's when he bares his fangs. <em> In broad daylight too, what an asshole. </em></p><p>"Come with me." </p><p>"Why would I?" </p><p>"Something bad is going to happen to that lovely mortal of yours if you don't." </p><p>Once or twice, Hanbin had thought of this before. That being in a relationship with a mortal would come at a cost, especially since he's aware that the town he lives in is infested with ruthless supernatural beings whose only personality is to kill and hold onto whatever means of survival despite being superior to mortals who can actually die on the spot. It was foolish of him to think the times are different now that the vampires have learned not to drink from flesh. Apparently, it's the aggressive <em> weres </em> he has to worry about.</p><p>"Okay, fine. I'll come," he surrenders, and watches as Junhoe's eyes struggle from turning back to brown. He remembers it was a full moon last night. That must've messed him up. "But if something <em> still </em> happens with Jaewon, I'm going to hold a grudge on you and it won't be pretty." </p><p>His warning was only answered with a scoff. What a shame. The next thing he knows, he's inside the werewolf's car. Which smells like a shitton of axe spray mixed with toxic masculinity. There has to be a plastic bag somewhere in the compartment to throw up into. Werewolves are such pain in the asses.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Usually, it takes him more threats and persuasion to give in. But his usual state changed five years ago when he was shunned out of his own coven, hindering him from doing magic. That means he can't actually protect himself… and maybe even Jaewon too. Even though he's still not sure if he’s actually in love with the guy.</p><p>Hanbin was born without having the ability to do magic. He was branded as a siphon, someone who draws energy off immortality, in his case—he uses the coven's immortal likeness to that of someone who cannot be killed. Unlike vampires, who were once—and still are—called abominations of nature, witches are called forces. Their powers are given by the Earth and they die like normal people, decaying and turning into dust to give back everything they've been given. So, it was a pretty big deal for the coven to have a witch with no powers, and they all thought sooner or later, he would manage to siphon off all the remaining energy of the coven and leave them with none. That's why when he turned 18, he was shunned, banned from the place he used to call home and from getting magic altogether, forever. </p><p>Hanbin doesn’t know if it’s really the reason or not. Or if what they think is true or not. Although he had come to accept his fate as a lone coven-less witch without the means to do magic, Hanbin still thinks what was done to him isn’t something <em> families </em> do to each other. But there was nothing he could do about it because it’s been years. He calls himself a mortal-adjacent.</p><p>Some herbs help neutralize the energy around him but it could only do so much. Somehow, werewolves aren't the only supernatural being to get messed up by the full moon. And last night, he had probably experienced the worst headache of his life. He needs to do magic again. </p><p>The car stops in front of a white overlooking mansion, with a wide lawn and a reflecting pool, shrined with tall Greek columns and golden statues. The gate opens automatically, and the car drives past it, around the fountain and in front of the stairs leading to the main door. Hanbin refrains his jaw from dropping. It must be far from the city. The arc from a while ago says they're at the end of Falconshore, by the boundary. He wonders if this is where Junhoe lives. </p><p>"Get out," the werewolf says, closing the door behind him. </p><p>Hanbin huffs and glares at his retreating back. They're known for being aggressive but Hanbin thinks there's really no need to show aggression for no reason at all. He gets out of the car and crosses his arms, following Junhoe as the wooden door with a carving of the sun overlapping the moon opens. They were met with a grand marble staircase, and a bunch of mortals in uniforms, not much startled from a visitor and certainly not asking for help either. Hanbin concludes that they were compelled. He gives Junhoe the stink eye when one helper catches the coat he threw before it hits the floor, hanging it on the rack. Hanbin does the same by himself, already bothered. A vampire must live in the house. </p><p>Junhoe heads upstairs and Hanbin follows him silently. He notices that the wolf has a few bruises on his ankles and wrists, still yet to be healed. It must be from the chains he used to tie himself up. Werewolves are now forbidden to roam the city every full moon. They're not conscious of their surroundings and they're very dangerous especially since they don't really use their brains once in transition. </p><p>Hanbin used to hear all the stories about them. The coven says witches are the most <em> moral </em> supernatural being on Earth, because they are guided and shaped by nature. They abide laws and treasure their limited lives more than anything. Protecting the coven is at the top of their priority. </p><p>The next are the werewolves, who are considered as children of the moon. They are birthed through a stone given by the Goddess herself. They come in packs and are loyal. But of course there are instances where some may go feral because not everyone can handle the feeling of breaking all the bones in their bodies whenever they transition and being chained up. These feral wolves are something to look out for during full moons. Those who choose not to have a pack are called lone wolves. He had never seen one before. He rarely leaves the coven back then because a witch is pretty useless without their magic. </p><p>The last creatures, and probably the ones with the least regard for morality, are the vampires. The undead. Vampires have always been the topic of the bedtime stories to scare the children in the coven. Growing up, Hanbin had heard all of what they could do, how they did it. And he knows every word of it is true. Vampires are ruthless, they fear no gods or goddesses. Once the daytime fades and bleeds into nighttime, they terrorize the city with their fangs and bloodlust. </p><p>Hanbin had seen one himself. </p><p>Through eyes like burning gold and veiny skin, sharp claws plunging into the heart of one of the witches who tried to brand him with the fiery stamp of steel halfway through, an unfinished lotus mark burned on the back of his shoulder. Hanbin was seven, and the vampire had saved him. </p><p>But the memory was a blur now. All he remembers is that it's the first time he witnessed a witch's funeral. </p><p>The kind of spells they learn inside the coven were those that are able to protect them from vampires. His mother told him that once a supernatural being dies, despite all the powers it was given, it is supposed to stay dead. Wolves die of old age, witches surrender their powers to nature. But vampires can live for more than a hundred, maybe even a thousand years, and that ruins the balance. That's why they are the most loathed supernatural creature. They don't turn back in what they were given. </p><p>As a kid, it fascinated him how there can be beings who were able to live through generations. One who could live through different passages and timelines. He wondered if they ever got lonely, from seeing a city burned down to ashes to seeing it get rebuilt, from watching a tree die to seeing a sapling grow. A life through the vampire's eyes. It must’ve been just as tough to live long as it is to die young.</p><p>The staircase ends at a spacious hallway, the ceiling too high that he has to squint to confirm if it was endless. He realized that it's covered in glass, and he can only see his reflection as a small dot. The subtlest shade of ivory was splashed on the walls, with sculpted headings and a few framed paintings that look like it was bought in auction. When he focuses his eyes in front of him, he sees a figure. </p><p>Two figures. A short guy wearing a three-piece suit, his hands are covered with black leather gloves and he's got a serious look on his face. Soft eyes, button nose, cupid-bow lips. His hair is the color of fallen leaves during autumns and there's a small, heart-shaped mole on the upper side of his cheek, just below his eye. He looks young.</p><p>He's a witch. But he doesn't feel any connection to him. It means he's not from his coven.</p><p>He's talking to a guy wearing a simple grey long-sleeved shirt and jeans. With short brown hair in soft curls covering his forehead, sharp jaws, and plump, plushy lips. He's significantly taller than the witch and unlike the latter, he's got a perpetual smirk on his face. </p><p>This one… he doesn't know what he is. </p><p>But his energy was overwhelming, that was out of question. It ripples past every nerve in his body, awakening his senses, and giving him just the slightest bit of hope that what's prickling him is something transcendent, not just his imagination doing the trick, not just another relapse.</p><p>It almost feels like he can do magic again, just by the aura lingering off of him, traveling straight to his fingertips. He shakes his head at the thought. The man wasn’t a witch from his coven, it couldn’t be. </p><p>Junhoe clears his throat, and that's when the attention of the two is caught. </p><p>"Junhoe." </p><p>The taller guy walks closer to them, Hanbin holds his breath, observing him. There's a line of art in vivid black ink on his chest peeking through his shirt, and his eyes are brown and warm. When their gazes locked, a line of gold circled around his pupils, glowing for a split second and then it was gone. </p><p>Yesterday was a full moon… but there's no way this one was a wolf. </p><p>"You must be the White Lotus witch," he raises an eyebrow, and tilts his head as if examining him. A ghost of a smile forms in his face, staring straight into his eyes, he continues, "Show me." </p><p>Hanbin squints in confusion. He turns his head to Junhoe as if asking what the <em> unknown supernatural manbaby </em> wants. Junhoe gestures on his shoulder, and Hanbin <em> "Ah"s </em> at the realization that he's got a half-scar to prove that he really is a White Lotus witch. <em> What was the deal with White Lotus witches nowadays anyway? </em></p><p>He was hesitant at first until Junhoe turned him around by force and lowered down the sleeve of his shirt, showing the small half-lotus scar on the back of his shoulder. He scowls at him in annoyance but doesn't resist. It was engraved in there by flames. The elders say it wouldn't hurt because fires are elements of nature, so it was impossible to affect a force like the witches. But Hanbin remembered how hot it felt, how the burn throbbed and ached, and he remembered screaming his lungs out, the least he could do, until he was <em> saved.  </em></p><p>There was a slight touch he felt when the man sauntered even closer, fingertips skimming on time-healed scar, as if tracing every remaining petal. Hanbin catches a glimpse of sunlight reflecting from the massive glass windows to that of the hand on his shoulder. He's wearing a silver ring with a bright blue stone encrusted in the middle. He lifts his head in shock, confusion masking his expression when he recognizes what kind of ring it was. He’s seen it before. </p><p>"What are you?" He asks meekly. </p><p>"What do you mean? You don't know who I am? What am I?" The man says, voice laced with disbelief. Hanbin shakes his head, and truthfully so, because he really has no idea. He's seen someone wear the kind of ring he's wearing but he's sure as hell he's not one of those. </p><p>There was a roar of laughter that followed after he shook his head. Hanbin flinches.</p><p>"Oh wow, you're hurting me, witch." His lower lips protrudes, and then his mouth breaks out a laugh again. "He doesn't know what I am, Jinhwan. Very cute," he faces the other witch and says the last words sarcastically. </p><p>"Jiwon," Junhoe calls. Hanbin realizes that his name is <em> Jiwon </em> when the guy turns to face them again. "I have to apologize." </p><p>"For what?" </p><p>"He's not a witch." Jiwon's eyes narrowed, Hanbin listened closely. "He's a siphoner, which means he can't do magic." </p><p>Oh. So Junhoe knows. Right then, he wonders what the hell is he still doing there? He seems to be useless as it is. He has so many questions and he still wants answers. For one, what does Jiwon need from him? There was no way he’s standing in front of someone whose existence is ambiguous if it’s just for show.</p><p>Jiwon purses his lips, and then he nods, "What's your name, witch?" </p><p>"Kim Hanbin," he answers. </p><p>"Rip my heart out, Kim Hanbin." </p><p>His voice was cold when he said it with finality, every word was sharp and piercing, and his eyes were challenging him to do it. </p><p>Hanbin looked around to find that nobody was batting an eye. As if it wasn't a rare occurrence for the psychopath in front of him to just ask anyone to<em> rip his fucking heart out. </em> And he had never killed a man nor a supernatural before. Ripping one's heart out equates to death. No being had managed to live from it. At least none that he knows of.</p><p>"What?" </p><p>"Rip it out, witch." </p><p>His face was inches apart from him now. He reaches for his hand, a rough tug asking him to open up. Hanbin tries to get away but it was an exercise in futility. There's another ring of gold glowing around Jiwon's pupils before he leads his hand on top of his chest, on his skin, and then slowly sinks inside of it. Hanbin's eyes widen when he feels something beating on his palm, and before he could even scream, Jiwon pulls away. There's a hole in the middle of his body and his eyes turn into pure gold as he falls dead on the ground. </p><p>His heart was on Hanbin's palm, blood splattered on his face. </p><p>"What the fuck?!"</p><p>Jinhwan walks up to him and hands him a towel, carefully taking the heart in his hand and throwing it away. </p><p>"It's a full moon last night. He's trying to restart some shit in his brain. Usually, it's Junhoe who does that but unfortunately today, it's you. I apologize," The witch says calmly, he raises a finger and the helpers scramble to make the surroundings spotless again. </p><p>Hanbin stares at Jiwon's lifeless body on the marble granite floor. He wipes his face off his blood hysterically. "Is he… is he dead?" </p><p>Jinhwan scoffs, "That's silly," he shakes his head unbelievingly. "Jiwon cannot be killed."</p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>What kind of fucking full moon happened last night, Jiwon doesn't know. But his head was aching like mad and all he could think of was <em> restart, restart, restart. </em> It seems to be convenient having a siphoner witch around. Once Hanbin had touched his heart, the throbbing stopped. Of course, that was before he decided to pull away. Their faces were far too close to each other for his liking. </p><p>He gains consciousness faster this time, body now on the red velvet chaise lounge. Junhoe was sitting beside him with a shirt in his hand. He takes it. </p><p>"The siphoner out?" He asks. </p><p>Junhoe shakes his head, "With Jinhwan. It's dinner time."</p><p>"Told the story yet?" He checks out Junhoe's wrists and ankles only to find out the bruises haven't healed completely. He frowns.</p><p>"Not yet." </p><p>"Good." Jiwon removes his clothes to replace it with a new one. "I should be the one to tell how it went, it's my story after all." </p><p>He gives Junhoe's bruises one final glance before telling him to move along and he'll follow.</p><p>The witch on witch conversation he was witnessing when he revealed himself in the dining hall was quite a sight to behold. Jiwon lived with Jinhwan for 11 years now, appointed him as his right-hand man, but he always said it was for shit and giggles because at the end of the day, he preferred to be alone. He's immortal anyway, he doesn't want to carry the burden of worrying about another life other than his own. The older witch was a big help though, he wouldn't admit it to his face. Junhoe was just added recently, for five, right after his first transition. He's without a pack so he took him in and took care of him to avoid going feral. The last thing he wants is a wolf unconsciously feasting on witches, lessening his chances of scoring one. Well, until now. It was strange to see a new face inside the mansion. The two very rarely had anyone over, and Jiwon really had no friends whatsoever. Doesn't want one. Doesn’t need one.</p><p>Hanbin looked like any other witch. Looked like Jinhwan when he first saw him. There was nothing remarkably special except the fact that he needs a witch like him. Innocent eyes filled with curiosity to the brim, fair skin, full lips. He's seen a handful of White Lotus witches in the past but it's the first time seeing someone with a half-finished scar. A <a id="back1" name="back1"></a><a id="back1" name="back1"></a>lotus branding<a href="#note1"><sup>1</sup> </a> should never be halted, else it's considered a hex. <em> Maybe that's why he's a siphoner. </em></p><p>"Good evening, witches." </p><p>He smiles at the both of them before having a seat. Hanbin's clearly uncomfortable, he takes note of that. If he sets the mood right, maybe he'll apologize. </p><p>"Hanbin and I are just talking about you." </p><p>Jinhwan places his knife carefully on the table, leather gloves resting on his lap. Prim and proper as always. Jiwon raises a brow. </p><p>"Really? Maybe that's the reason why I accidentally bit my tongue," he laughs, "I appreciate that." </p><p>Jinhwan rolls his eyes at him, fixing his tie. He stands up and gives him another <em> look. </em> "I'll leave you to it. Talk and try not to kill each other," he turns his face to Junhoe and gestures for the wolf to come with him. </p><p>Hanbin seems too far even though he's just a meter away. There’s tension in the air and he can smell fear and discomfort quite well. Jiwon clears his throat, "So, witch-siphoner, siphoner-witch, what'd Jinhwan say?" </p><p>"He told me what you are." </p><p>"And what am I?"</p><p>"A hybrid," he says with his lips trembling, and Jiwon wants to coo at him for looking so <em> pathetic.  </em></p><p>"What are you so scared of, love?" He pouts, laughing when the siphoner glares at him in return. </p><p>"I'm not going to help you with whatever you want."</p><p>Typical White Lotus witch. Always so keen on refusal. He hasn't even said what he wants. And Hanbin's still useless unless they magically (pun intended) figure out how to get his powers back. It's been ages since the last time he's gotten ahold of one, he's not going to let this witch go.</p><p>"Do you want to play a game? Like one question, one answer?" He wiggles his eyebrows, fork playing with the medium rare steak on his plate, his other hand on the wine glass filled with fresh blood, well, fresh out of the blood bag actually, fingers circling on the rim. </p><p>"No the fuck I don't," Hanbin says through gritted teeth, fists clenched. Jiwon thinks he looks like a baby tiger every time he <em> tries </em> to look tough. It's a shame he didn't get to see how he reacted with his heart on his palm.</p><p>"Aww, come on you killjoy. You don't even have your witchy voodoo powers right now, you can't curse me. I, however," He shows him his fangs, only a short second until his face is back to normal again. Then he winks. </p><p>"God, fine. But I get the first question."</p><p>Jiwon takes a sip on his glass, eyes fixated on Hanbin as warm blood flows straight down his throat. He gestures for him to go on, waving his hand lightly. </p><p>"What are you exactly?" </p><p>Jiwon carefully puts down his empty glass, wiping his mouth with his thumb and then pushing it past his lips to avoid waste. "Jinhwan told you I was a hybrid, right?" Hanbin nods. "If you want specificity, I'm actually a vampire hybrid. I was born a werewolf, and then the Moon Goddess cursed me and three other beings to live for eternity. Well, they say it's a curse but everyone in this world wants power and I have that so I personally think it's a blessing." </p><p>"What do you mean by three other beings? There are other vampire hybrids out there?"</p><p>"Oh, don't worry about that, love. I'm the only one." Hanbin raises his brow in confusion, Jiwon purses his lips and adds, "I killed the other two and I want you to help me with the last one." </p><p>"Wha—"</p><p>"I've answered two questions already, it's my turn." The witch is still looking at him with lost eyes, Jiwon might have to ask Jinhwan to let him dream about what really happened, in case he fails to make him understand. Witches can do a lot of shit except shut up sometimes. "Are you born a siphoner?" </p><p>Hanbin nods begrudgingly, "Yes. I used to get magic from the coven's energy but they shunned me for being an abomination of nature or whatever when I was of age."</p><p>"Abomination of nature, wow," Jiwon props his head with his palm, staring at Hanbin's brown eyes with a playful smile. "That makes two of us then, love." </p><p>"How long… have you been alive?" Hanbin looks at him curiously, eyes cast down the blood wine on his hand, then back at his eyes. Jiwon suddenly feels uncomfortable, he doesn’t look away though.</p><p>"For a thousand years," he answers, but he's aware that time is an illusion. He's been in the same lifetime more than once, the people change and only the places stay still.</p><p>He notices Hanbin staring at his hand, particularly the stone on his finger. "Your ring…" he finally says. "It emits the same energy as that of the coven's." </p><p>Jiwon furrows his brow. "It's a daylight ring. It helps me—"</p><p>"—walk in daylight, I figured. Who made it?"</p><p>A smile slowly forms on Jiwon's face. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. He's got a smart witch in front of him. This could be his answer. "Say, witch, the coven's energy is immortal, that's why you can siphon off magic from it, right? I'm immortal too, why don't you siphon off from me?" </p><p>It's a theory he's been thinking for quite some time, but Hanbin's just eyeing him like he said the most ridiculous thing. </p><p>"It was a White Lotus witch, wasn't it? The one who made your ring—"</p><p>"—Siphon off from me, witch."</p><p>"You're going to die!"</p><p>Jiwon chuckles, it's his turn now to look at him absurdly. "I'm immortal, I can't die."</p><p>"I meant, temporarily," Hanbin rolls his eyes.</p><p>"What's wrong with that?"</p><p>"How am I supposed to help you if you're dead?"</p><p>"So you agree? You'll help me?"</p><p>"Tell me who created your ring first, then I'll think about it."</p><p>Jiwon shrugs, preparing to tell him what he wanted to hear. Once Hanbin had stepped in his house, he was stripped off of his choice. He's bound to help him either way. By hook or by crook, he's going to make sure of that.</p><p>He starts the story with a name. "Kim Taeri. He's probably your relative. I met him back in 1667, pretty witch," Jiwon smiles and squints at him. "Kinda looks like you in some way. I've been hiding from the sun my whole life when I turned, then he said he'd help me."</p><p>"How did you meet him?"</p><p>"A town gathering. I didn't care about White Lotus witches then but it turns out they loathed the vampires and your distant uncle was in love with me, so he helped me. I think he wasn't aware that I was immortal but witches can get really cranky once they don't get what they want and he knows they were going to get me killed anyway." Jiwon rubs the stone Kim Taeri used to protect him. <a id="back2" name="back2"></a><a id="back2" name="back2"></a>Lapis lazuli<a href="#note2"><sup>2</sup> </a>, enchanted and given to him as a promise, as they lie down the grass in their tunics, kissing before the sun rises. Jiwon's skin didn't burn. That was the first time he ever caught himself under the sunlight. First time he contained heat without having to burn through it after years.  It felt warm… but no warmth could compare to that of the one beside him then. </p><p>"What happened to Kim Taeri?"</p><p>"Burned at the stake." </p><p>He still remembers it clearly. Taeri told him not to show himself so the witches would never know that he can finally walk during the day. He left to get his grimoire and promised to come back. They planned to run away together. Jiwon still followed him despite his warnings though, worried and frantic, but he was too late. Kim Taeri's body was wrapped in a dirty cloth, tied up in a burning stake along with four other people. Jiwon could only make out his screams due to his heightened hearing. </p><p>If he focuses hard enough, the memory doesn't seem too far. He could still hear him, crying in agony, sometimes calling his name. </p><p>"Listen, witch," He shifts in his seat and moves closer. "This ring is made from your coven's magic, from your fellow coven troops, so maybe that's why you feel some weird connection to it. I'll give it to you if you promise to help me kill the last immortal aside from me."</p><p>"I don't want to kill anyone," Hanbin confesses outright.</p><p>Jiwon grunts, brushing his hair with his fingers in frustration. "We're not killing him completely. Only the immortal side. I just need something from him. He'll live after, don't worry." </p><p>"And you think I'd trust you?"</p><p>"You're going to help me whether you like it or not anyway. Or else I'll decapitate your little Jung Jaewon and wear his head as a necklace and parade myself in the town plaza for you and for everyone to see." </p><p>Hanbin flinches at his words, and Jiwon shows him a cruel smile. He plants his palm on the table and eases up the ring, removing it slowly on his finger. </p><p>Hanbin watches as the hybrid's skin burns in contact with the sunlight, turning a deep shade of brown and red, it sizzles and peels off his skin layer by layer. When he raises his head to look at him, his face is burning too, but the smile never fades. It clears up after a minute, back to smooth, spotless, fair skin. He's wearing the ring again. </p><p>"Make me a new ring. Jinhwan will turn this into an amulet for you to wear once the sun sets. He'll tell you the rest." </p><p>Jiwon takes his empty glass as he leaves. Hanbin follows his retreating back with his eyes before sighing. Jiwon heard that.</p><p>"Fucking bastard."</p><p>He smiles to himself as he opens the door to his room.</p><p>He heard that too. </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>There was an original witch. Someone who lived more than a thousand years ago, even before werewolves existed. She was gifted with an immortal stone—by the Goddess of the Moon, which harvests energy from nature and in turn becomes magic for her fellow witches. </p><p>She found out later on that she couldn't reap energy from the moon, forbidden by Selene, the goddess. As a retaliation, she created a being that could, the Aurora wolf pack who lived in a bayou now known as Seogwang in Falconshore, Seoul, first wolves known in the land. At the beginning, werewolves were able to turn at will and it was painless. The beings in the bayou lived peacefully, guided by the moon and the power of the immortal stone… until a werewolf killed a witch. And so she cursed them to be bound by the full moon, breaking every bone in their body and losing consciousness as an animal, like an animal.</p><p>When the vampires found out a werewolf bite could kill them, they set out to purge the only pack that existed. The original witch protected them with a cloaking spell, not knowing it was a full moon and the same pack that she created had turned on her, shredding her into pieces. </p><p>The original witch died and the Moon Goddess retrieved the immortal stone in her heart, splitting it into four elements and creating different species to be the keeper of the stones alongside.</p><p>The first keeper was Im Nayeon, a mermaid who turned into a siren to lure fishermen into the ocean under the idea that lost souls would bring back her dead lover. The villagers said she was after revenge, killing thousands of ferrymen without much as a single thought. She had never once heard pleas, and she reveled on muffled screams of drowning men as she pulled them down in the ocean underneath. </p><p>The second keeper was Freya, a human, part Harpy who turned into a Veela and had the power to bewitch and enchant men through her exceptional beauty. She'd fly across the world to hunt prey, those who sought after the defenseless and the meek. She used to be considered as a heroine in every villain's story but she never really liked being known. Freya killed purposely, but there was always something hidden behind a pretty face.</p><p>The third keeper was Jung Chanwoo, a powerful witch from a nameless coven who was said to be hexed after selling his soul to a demon. Nobody had ever seen or heard of him before. There are traces he left that are vague and irreplaceable. Jung Chanwoo was a myriad of mysteries not meant to be solved. They say if you meet him once in a dream, it's a bad omen. And those who have seen his face have gone insane. </p><p>And the last of them was Kim Jiwon, naturally born as a werewolf but became a vampire-hybrid when the original witch's immortal stone was separated. There are stories, legends foretold in lores with him disguised as a hero when in fact he only ever acted on his benefit. It was always easy to tell what Kim Jiwon had done, but it was difficult to know why he'd done it.</p><p>Only two of the keepers remain, with Jiwon keeping three stones, and Chanwoo, his own. The other two being in Jiwon's possession weren't much of a help to his predicament. The stones either work if they are pieced together or if they're behind the designated keeper's ownership. Jiwon could only use his stone and it was to keep his immortality. At least before he decides to kill the last of the keeper.</p><p>Jinhwan tells him all of this as the older witch melts the ring in a tiny cauldron, producing heat from his fingers and onto the bottom of the rusty metal bowl. His mouth falls agape as he listens, the cauldron filled with silver and blue liquid, separating like it has a mind of its own. </p><p>"Give me your hand." Jinhwan holds out his, and he eyes him hesitantly when he sees him with a knife. "I need your blood."</p><p>"W-what? Why?" </p><p>The older man didn't look annoyed at how many questions he's been asking, though. Hanbin was relieved at that. Jinhwan was nonchalant and he answers everything precisely, unlike Jiwon who changes directions frequently from the short time they've talked a while ago. "I'm linking your blood with Kim Taeri, so you can use his energy. It's like a password, or something." </p><p>Hanbin holds out his hand, then, closing his eyes as the cold, sharp metal of the small knife cuts his palm open, keeping himself from whining. Jinhwan instructs him to close his fist, squeezing the blood off his hand and to the cauldron. He whines then.</p><p>"I'm sure you know how to heal yourself, right? Once you can siphon magic again?" </p><p>Hanbin nods, "I've done it before." There's another mold of blood rising atop the melted lapis lazuli stone, mixing with his and then sinking down again. "For a friend," he adds.</p><p>The next process was a quick yielding of amulets. Jinhwan taught him how to turn silvers into chains, looping it around the oval-shaped, now-solid lapis lazuli stone. He was about to get a hold of it when Jinhwan suddenly wrapped it around his wrist as a makeshift bracelet. He furrows his brows. <em> What the hell does he want now? </em></p><p>"You have to create a daylight ring for Jiwon first. For now, hold my wrist so you can do magic." </p><p>Hanbin tightens his lips and refrains himself from rolling his eyes. Of course, everything revolves around that goddamn hybrid.</p><p>There were fragments of lapis lazuli stones littered on the storage room table. It wasn't easy collecting this particular color and he wonders how Jinhwan could get this much, and where. As a kid, Hanbin used to watch the older witches from his coven wield rings and bracelets bound by cloaking spells. For their friends, their family, for their own. Most of them were used for protection—a talisman against werewolves and vampires, a brooch to flaunt their status. He knows how to make one, in theory. </p><p>"Which keeper did Jiwon kill?" He starts asking another set, holding Jinhwan's wrist, and magic begins flowing from his fingertips and to his whole body, racking his insides and enlightening his mind. It was different from before, it was strange and with a heavier feeling.</p><p>"He killed the siren, and the veela died on its own. He's yet to kill the witch, though."</p><p>The heat that came out of his hand is warmer, and he tries to stop himself from setting the whole table on fire, molding a ring from scratch with burning fingertips, wielding silvers and stones and murmuring a prayer for the God of Sun. </p><p>"I need Jiwon's blood," he demands, opening one eye. Jinhwan reveals a drawer filled with vials of the hybrid's blood. It looks questionable but Hanbin doesn't voice out his opinion, pushing the thought at the back of his head.</p><p>He hands one to him before explaining that a vampire's blood cures injuries, cuts, and bruises. And Junhoe used to drink one after a full moon in his early wolf years. The healing process becomes faster because Jiwon is a hybrid. It was convenient.</p><p>"He said he just wanted something from them, that he's only killing the immortal side. Does that mean they're still alive? What does he want?"</p><p>Jinhwan sits on the chair in front of him, watching Jiwon's blood mix with the melted lapis lazuli stone, slowly becoming overpowered by blue and then turning back into a solid, rough cut. Hanbin couldn't believe he's doing it right. He’s never actually done this much magic before. Not even when he was staying in the coven grounds.</p><p>"Once you kill a keeper, they turn back to their original form, before the Goddess turned them into whatever they are. Like a restart button, they get to live their remaining years as how it should've been in the very beginning. Like mortals, or a maximum of a hundred years. Considering how it was a long time ago, they're probably all dead too by now." Jinhwan shrugs. "Jiwon wanted to get a hold of the stones."</p><p>"Yeah, obviously. But why is that?"</p><p>"I don't know much but he told me Selene talked to him in a dream saying that the immortal stone, once collected, can resurrect someone."</p><p>The concept of the Goddess appearing in a dream had never bothered him. The elders used to say that Selene shows herself only to the chosen ones, and she personally made Jiwon an immortal so it makes sense. Hanbin had never seen her, and frankly, he doesn't want to. If he does, he would probably bend on her will. Who would ever turn down a goddess's request? But that would be ridiculous to think of, even for him. Well, especially for him. He’s a nobody. A siphoner, a failed witch shunned from his coven.</p><p>"Who is he trying to resurrect?"</p><p>"Jiwon was the son of the Alpha woman from the Aurora wolf pack, the one created by the original witch I told you about a while ago. When Jiwon was born, the pack took note of how his skin glistened under the sun. There were some speculations but it wasn't proven until Jiwon turned older, he had his first kill, which means he's bound to trigger his wolf gene. And then, you know, instead of being a wolf, he turned into a vampire hybrid. The pack thought that the Alpha had some deal with a witch to make her son more powerful, to make <em> her </em> more powerful, just because Jiwon wasn't a slave to the moon. He turned on his first transition on the first full moon of that year, but after that, he could only do it at will. They killed her based on that accusation, calling Jiwon an abomination of nature for being different. He wants to bring her back."</p><p>Hanbin remembers Jiwon's words when he told him he was called an abomination of nature too, for not being able to do magic on his own. <em> That makes two of us, love. </em></p><p>"He needs you." </p><p>He rolls his eyes at that, cooling down the almost-finished ring on his palm. "I've been told," he sighs. "But why me? Why not you? You're a witch too." </p><p>Jinhwan chuckles, staring at the ring on his hand that shines under the dim lights of the storage room they were in. "You think I haven’t thought of that? If I could do it, I would."</p><p>"What are you doing here, Jinhwan? And Junhoe? What is he doing here? Can't you escape? Is he threatening you too?"</p><p>There's another chuckle that comes after. It's not the bitter kind, and somehow, he sees that Jinhwan truly likes being in the mansion, that he likes attending to Jiwon. He saw the same expression on Junhoe's face when Jiwon looked at him. He starts worrying if he'll be like that, like them, sooner or later. What is it with Jiwon that makes these people submit? They don't seem to be afraid of him and yet here they are… under the hybrid's seeming spell. "Jiwon took me in because my own coven wouldn't. I'm here on my will."</p><p>Just like him then. Except he wasn't there on his will.</p><p>Hanbin scoffs, shaking his head as he lends him the ring. It's a simple, classic design which resembles that of his previous one. All they need to do is to wait for the sun to set to know if it's working. Jinhwan moves his wrist away from him, he stops feeling the magic. </p><p>"Did it ever occur to you that he took you in because he needed a witch, for, I don't know, protection?"</p><p>"Jiwon doesn't need to be protected. He cannot be killed." The older fixes his tie, putting the daylight ring in a silver box and hiding it in his pocket. "I'm actually pretty useless to him, if you ask me. I'm only here to cloak the mansion in a spell so it wouldn't be deliberately seen by others whom we have no business with." </p><p>Hanbin settles himself on top of the table, pushing the bowls and a few jars to the side. "It seems to me that you feel indebted to him. Like he saved you before and you want to repay him."</p><p>For a fleeting moment, he sees a part of Jinhwan's walls breaking down, and his eyes tell him that that is indeed the case but he builds the walls back up again and blocks him out. "What are you doing in Falconshore, anyway? If you weren't here, Jiwon wouldn't have found you. He's been looking for a roaming White Lotus witch since the early years."</p><p>There goes the deflection. Hanbin smiles at that, almost amused. It's the first time he didn't answer him directly, he could have defended himself but he chose to talk about something else instead. He drops the topic then, stashing it in the far back of his mind for leverage. At least he knows the witch in front of him has a weakness. "I was forced to flee <a id="back3" name="back3"></a><a id="back3" name="back3"></a>Witchport<a href="#note3"><sup>3</sup> </a> when I was shunned. There's this feeling of losing my breath and being trapped. I suppose it's the same as that of when vampires awaken inside a house with which they weren't <a id="back4" name="back4"></a><a id="back4" name="back4"></a>invited in.<a href="#note4"><sup>4</sup> </a> Falconshore was near and I had enough money for rent." He jumps off the table and shrugs the dust on his back, Jinhwan gives him a once over. "Do you think if I went somewhere else, I wouldn't be in this situation right now?"</p><p>The older shakes his head, eyes transfixed on the night-sky filled with stars by the window. He should've been home by now. He should’ve been doing normal things, acting like he’s one of the mortals. Like Jaewon. He was always careful with meeting vampires. Not everyone has a daylight ring like Jiwon but he supposes it was a only fair since he wouldn't know what he would do if vampires could freely roam in broad daylight. It was more difficult on his side because he was supposed to be supernatural yet he's got nothing on him. He's really like a mortal after all, defenseless and preyed upon. He wonders if he’ll still feel like this once he gets the amulet.</p><p>"Jiwon would know if a witch had been shunned," Jinhwan gestures on his finger, pertaining to Jiwon's previous daylight ring made by a White Lotus witch. "It signals him every time there's a witch around, that's how he found me. It gets stronger when it's from your coven, that's how he found you." </p><p>Hanbin rolls his eyes. Kim Taeri must've loved Jiwon too much to be giving him all these privileges. Going against your own kind for a vampire-hybrid? It seems too far-fetched. Especially since witches are known to have unbreakable bonds. Well, clearly that wasn't the case with the dead witch, nor with Jinhwan's. And soon, maybe with him too.</p><p>"Why a White Lotus witch?"</p><p>"You should ask Jiwon. He's the only one who knows." </p><p>Hanbin nods, but he wasn't actually planning on talking to Jiwon ever again. His life was fine without magic, he doesn't need one to live. He's preparing to leave but Jinhwan catches his arm, giving him a pointed look. "You're not planning on leaving, aren't you? There's a guest room down the hallway. Sleep there."</p><p>He struggles to get away from his hold but it only makes him tighten. Hanbin glares at him. "Let me go. I'm not risking my life to help a psychotic vampire-hybrid kill a demon witch because of some inner vendetta."</p><p>"Once you leave the mansion, you'll die. I'll make sure of it." And Hanbin had never felt this scared his entire life. There's something about the way Jinhwan speaks, an eerie feeling of loneliness and he looks like he never regretted anything he had done in his life before. Like he's got everything to win and nothing to lose. </p><p>"What makes you say that?" He challenges, thankful that he didn't stutter. </p><p>"I linked your blood with mine in the amulet. The minute you step out of this house, I'll drive a knife in my heart and you'll die with me."</p><p>"You lied to me! You said you linked it with Kim Taeri!" Hanbin grits his teeth in anger.</p><p>Jinhwan shrugs and chuckles, "How could I link it with Kim Taeri if that bastard's already dead? His essence is still there because he'll never let Jiwon go but you're stuck with me."</p><p>Hanbin thinks that he really ran out of luck. His entire life was just filled with various misfortunes that he'd lost count. The number of threats he had received that night pools around his head like an ultimatum and he knows one of them will come true, and judging from the void in Jinhwan's eyes, this one might be it. This one might be the last straw.</p><p>"How do I know I'll be safe once I agree with this? That Jiwon wouldn't kill me halfway through, or once he gets what he wants?"</p><p>There weren't many options he could choose from, really. It's either Jiwon kills every person dear to him or Jinhwan kills himself along with him. Eitherway, he still dies. It's not up to him to question Jiwon's morality. That guy had lived for a thousand years, he's done a lot. He'll do all of them again in a heartbeat without even blinking. Like how he did when he forced him to rip his heart out.</p><p>"He wouldn't kill you because he needs you. He'll keep you safe for that matter alone."</p><p>"You said our blood is linked, what if you die in an accident?"</p><p>Jinhwan smiles then, "You underestimate Kim Jiwon, Hanbin. If I happen to kill you by accidentally killing myself, he'll raise hell on Earth just to resurrect you, even if that means making unprecedented deals with the devil himself. This is not something he isn’t serious about. He waited a thousand years for a roaming White Lotus witch. You should've been more careful… picking a place to live." </p><p>The witch was out the door before he could even respond. In a sense, Hanbin never really considered himself as a witch, since he's been called an abomination the minute he was born—it was said that his eyes did not glow when he was consecrated, indicating that a child cannot produce magic on its own. All the elders in the coven saw it, and so he was a hopeless case at that very moment. Hanbin never really felt any connection with nature as well. Fate, beliefs, and destiny, he wasn't sure if those words exist solely for mortals to hold onto, for their own satisfaction, because they run a life too short to be without a purpose. This one… this couldn't be his. </p><p>Across the hallway, there's a room with a door wide open. Jiwon is sitting on the edge of the bed with Junhoe beside him, in such close proximity that he could paint malice at what he’s seeing if he didn’t know any better. Or maybe he really didn’t know any better. He sees that the hybrid's wrist is bleeding and that Junhoe's teeth are buried underneath fair skin, blood dripping down from his cheeks and to the marble floor of white, ivory, and grey. Jiwon meets his gaze, his lips slowly form a sinister grin. </p><p>He remembers the drawer in the storage room, filled with vials of the hybrid's blood, and Jinhwan's hollow eyes when he said he'll kill himself if he leaves. A vampire blood, once drunk by a mortal before dying could turn them into one. Jiwon is half-vampire. The witch and the werewolf have been drinking the hybrid's blood.</p><p>They will resurrect as a vampire when they die with it in their system. And he, the siphoner witch, who hasn't tasted a drop of vampire blood ever since, will stay dead and gone. </p><p>Hanbin thinks he must be hexed. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <ol>
  <li>
<a id="note1" name="note1"></a>Lotus branding is the act of branding a White Lotus witch on the back of their shoulder with a lotus flower-designed branding iron, usually done like how a livestock is branded by number, heating up the metal stamp in flames and burning the skin. Very questionable, but witches think it's the same as being Christened. Of course, this is fiction and I made it all up. You can still sleep at night. 
<sup><a href="#back1"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

 <li>
<a id="note2" name="note2"></a>A lapis lazuli is a mystical stone enchanted by witches, to allow vampires to walk freely in the sunlight. The stone itself doesn't have to be worn; for as long as the vampire is in contact with it, they are protected from daylight. It does not lose its powers even when the witch who made it died. Jiwon misses the creator once or twice though. His first love, aww.<sup><a href="#back2"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

<li>
<a id="note3" name="note3"></a>Witchport is the place where the White Lotus coven is located. Like how wolves travel in packs, witches stay in the focal point of their coven's energy, binded together. At least not until one is shunned, though. I'm pretty sure Falconshore was introduced in the beginning as the town where supernatural beings coexist with mortals. It's also the same town Jiwon lived in 1000+ years ago. Listen, I couldn't think of Korean names for places anymore. I went and picked some shit from an online generator, don't judge me.
<sup><a href="#back3"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

<li>
<a id="note4" name="note4"></a>Don't honestly know if it was canon in the vampire universe, but in The Vampire Diaries/ The Originals, vampires needed to be invited in before they could enter a human's house. One time an original vampire temporarily died and he was brought inside some house without being invited in. When he woke up, he had to physically drag himself outside because he couldn't breathe. I guess it could be another way to kill a normal vampire besides stake in the heart, decapitation, and burning. Yikes.
<sup><a href="#back4"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>
</ol>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. a monster lies in wait</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please read the linked footnotes lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The last time he remembers being woken up from his slumber was 1995. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Moon Goddess, Selene, said a witch was to be born. But it wasn't just any other witch, it was someone he could potentially use to kill the last remaining keeper, aside from him that is. Jiwon wasn't very interested, to say the least. He's been asleep in his marble coffin for 15 years. He’d wish for more if it wasn’t inevitable. He wonders if he missed anything from the late 80s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memories from the past years where he had tried to hide, desiccating in a coffin with a dagger stuck in his heart instead of mourning, all came crashing back once the silver dagger was pulled out. His lover had just died, it’s the first thing he remembers. Her head rolling towards him, stopping to his feet, a green gemstone sitting on her tongue. She was a keeper too, a lovely one. But contrary to the tales, he was not the one that killed her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon calls it a detour. Whenever something remotely bad happens, something he couldn't control, he buries a silver dagger in his chest, striking his heart at once and inducing himself to sleep. It would last for months, for years, for decades, until Selene deems it's been too long. She wakes him up in no time and Jiwon thinks it's still not enough, never will be. He refuses to admit that it's cowardice, because Jiwon doesn't like facing his problems. He wants to forget and if he could, he would. But in his case, he just had to live with everything he had done, and everything he had done </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> for a thousand years. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A witch's birth is considered as something momentous, because witches consider a child as a gift from nature. A celebration of life, a new force, an addition to the magic that could protect and restore the balance. Jiwon was fully aware that the coven in Witchport created a cloaking spell to hide themselves from him, a vampire-hybrid who has a history of </span>
  <em>
    <span>slaughtering</span>
  </em>
  <span> witches. He claims that said history was false, for all he'd ever done was </span>
  <em>
    <span>torment</span>
  </em>
  <span> them. But there's really no point in correcting how the witches want to play him out to be. Futile, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's always been the villain in their stories. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's too hung up on everything around him to give a damn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon had never killed a witch in his entire life. And he’s lived a lot. It's mostly the vampires and some mortals. But he does plan to kill just one witch. A keeper demon one, to be exact. However long it takes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You woke me up for nothing," he murmurs to the wind, where the Goddess is said to be listening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In Jiwon's perspective, Selene doesn't really care if he kills the keeper of the stones she had assigned, and all for his own benefit, as long as the stones are intact in his body. Later on he will pass it to his mother, resurrecting her after years of being dead. If he happens to die in the process, collection unfinished, the stones will be back in the Goddess's possession, and she will assign another keeper to protect them. It's as easy as that and Jiwon knows this well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Goddess never directly talks to him. She always appears in his dreams. The stories that were passed on for generations had said she looks immaculate with her blinding beauty. A gorgeous woman with long copper-colored hair, flowing down her legs in soft waves. Her dark skin glows bright under the moon, her element. There are many who sought to be in her presence, but no one was fortunate enough unless she deems them worthy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon had seen her in the flesh, only once, and probably out of luck too. It was 1919, he was about to strike a dagger in his heart after a long day of trying to die, or trying to survive, really. It was long overdue. She appeared in front of him, in a Queen Anne neckline midnight blue dress that seemed endless, weaved with patterns of wars and victories, of eternal light and eternal doom, and every land she rules. With her velvet burgundy lips, she kissed his cheek and whispered </span>
  <em>
    <span>all will be well. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That was also the last time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All hasn't been </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> well. They have contradicting definitions of whatever well meant. Jiwon wouldn’t blame her though. Goddesses are way too out of touch with reality.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, all he sees in his dreams is the wind, and her soft voice which sounds more like his conscience. Jiwon doesn't know if having delusions is part of being an immortal, he doesn't know if he was really talking to the Goddess… but whenever he doubts, he feels the ghost of her lips on his cheek, like an assurance that she is, in fact, there, and then he stops thinking. At least not too hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A lot of things happened after a year, but Jiwon wasn't one to dwell and reflect. The world continues with or without his presence anyway. He knows this for sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sleeps with a purpose that night, a normal one, in a bed and not in a coffin, in hopes of meeting her and finding answers. There wasn’t really a fixed schedule on where and when Selene will show up, but Jiwon’s figured out she appears every time she needs to tell him something. It’s always after he was woken up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dream begins with a cry. And Jiwon knows she's trying to show him the birth of a witch. It's a boy with bright brown eyes, raven hair in curls, skin fair, and he wails like the world has been burdened on his shoulders already right after he was born. Jiwon doesn't hear what the witches had named him, but he hopes he'll go astray. If this child is what will lead to Jung Chanwoo's downfall, he has to be a <a id="back1" name="back1"></a><a id="back1" name="back1"></a>roaming witch<a href="#note1"><sup>1</sup> </a> 
</span></p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"You will forget about him."</span>
  </em>
  <span> Is the last thing he hears before the dream fades into black. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon had forgotten. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The early 2000s was already a wreck. Jiwon expected nothing from mortals. For the past years he had lived with them, he realized that they're just as bad, if not worse. At least the supernatural kills for survival… the mortal kills in every false pretense—either because they want to change the world or because the world hasn't been kind enough to them. Jiwon thinks it's hilarious. He thought it funny how he's branded as a monster by the same one who wouldn't even blink when committing a crime. It’s ridiculous how his kind are considered killers when it is the humans that hunt and burn them at the stake for mere assumptions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On a brighter note, if there was one thing he was particularly thankful for, it was probably the invention of smartphones. He had to examine it really hard just to get the hang of it because it might come in handy, considering these changing times. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But who really needs technological advancements when you have magic?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In 2009, he found himself a witch. A roaming one, but he wasn't from the coven he wanted. Jiwon still thinks it's convenient, after all, meeting Jinhwan made him understand why witches are called forces. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was 20-something when they met. A short man who had a temper, too sharp for his own good, but Jiwon was surprised to find out that he knew about him. More than what he was letting on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There are stories with your name on it," the witch had said, in a neat suit, ironed to perfection. If he was to enumerate what he hates about these witches, the first one on the list would be that they’d do anything to </span>
  <em>
    <span>look</span>
  </em>
  <span> superior. As the years passed, he learned that Jinhwan liked formality in the highest sense, and Jiwon got used to it in time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How did you know what I look like?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been following you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He moved closer to him, meeting his eyes as if observing brown orbs under microscopic lights. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kim Jiwon, you have to take me in. I need something from you, and you'll need something from me,” he boldly said, eyes oozing with confidence as if his sentence wasn’t a plea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Truthfully, he wasn't amused that very day. Some may say he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. The fact that it's been years since he last killed a keeper wasn't much of a help. The decades were bleeding longer, and Jiwon was impatient. He held the witch's small face in between his hand, gripping his cheeks tighter. He looked straight into his eyes, luring him to enchantment. It was the basic step of compulsion. Vampires have the ability to compel mortals, to make them do their biddings and tell the truth. A vampire-hybrid like Jiwon can compel not only mortals but also the supernaturals, and so he used that ability to force information out of the bold, roaming witch's mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"What do you need?" </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>To his disappointment and surprise, he wasn't met with the usual straight to the point answer, instead the witch had said, "I drink <a id="back2" name="back2"></a><a id="back2" name="back2"></a>vervain<a href="#note2"><sup>2</sup> </a>  everyday, you can't compel me. You don't need to, I'll tell you everything if you take me in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon felt like it would be useless to argue. Yet he was bummed that the witch was already one step ahead of him. He’s been one-upped by this overdressed, conceited </span>
  <em>
    <span>force of nature</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite all that, he took him in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A witch is an asset nevertheless, and Jinhwan was the only witch to trust him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All he needed was a little bit of his immortality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan had this theory that if he had a hybrid's blood in his system right after he dies, he'll come back to life immediately, just like how vampirism works. The twist is that he'll retain his witch powers, thereby making him a witch-vampire hybrid. But he needed to study the hybrid's blood first so it wouldn't fail, if it happens to be possible, he'll take the next trip to kill himself, and if it's not, he'll take immortality than having to live as a witch his entire life. Jiwon considers it impossible, but he's not the one at risk so he lets him be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan never wanted to be a witch </span>
  <em>
    <span>only,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and so he’s trying to become more powerful by using his blood. The difference between them is that Jiwon never wanted to be vampire-hybrid, but being powerful does have its charm. It’s not his fault everybody wants to be him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They lived in an abandoned mansion by the borders, at the end of the town. They compelled mortals to renovate the house, some inhabitants for whenever they had to travel. It was a tedious year for the both of them. Jiwon agreed on a symbiotic relationship with Jinhwan, and so far, he has not regretted it yet.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The year on the newspaper said it was 2015. Jiwon had just been awoken from his three-year slumber. Another one for the books. He wasn't really feeling the whole mortal world fiasco and he'd rather sleep than witness days after barren days unravel in front of him. Everything was dull and uninteresting. Jiwon thinks even the thought of his coffin gets him excited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time it was Jinhwan's fault and not Selene's. He had left the mansion that night to familiarize himself with the changes in the town he lives in. The last thing he remembers was the clear outrage about the world ending in 2012, and Jiwon was too out of it to even care that he just asked the witch to dagger him up and put him in a coffin, instructing him to wake him up if something significant happens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing significant happened. Jiwon is pissed. There's an unlit cigarette in between his lips as he reads about the daily news, under the stupid flickering light of a raggedy pub he used to frequent back in '08, and although it's still running, it's just full of regulars who either just got out of prison or in-hiding. The owner gave up on new sales and went with the idea that they'll just house criminals, or gangsters who had nothing going on with their lives. Jiwon thinks it's the perfect place to catch up, familiarize himself with this new world he just woke up to. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Earthquake in Nepal. US Supreme Court affirms same-sex marriage. Presence of water on Mars. Sinking of Dolgorae.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone offers him a lighter and Jiwon leans in, puffing as he turns the page to yet another tragedy. His back is on the unfurnished wall in front of the pub when he reads the title of an article on the bottom page. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Werewolves in Falconshore, Another Pressing Issue? Or Simply a Myth?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon snorts, flicking the stick on the asphalt he's stepping on. He's about to dive into the full article when he hears a groan, and it's not somewhere near, no. It's from the woods miles away from where he stands. He was able to hear it due to his heightened hearing, and alongside, the air was peculiarly silent. He furrows his brows and focuses on the groan more, trying to make out who was making a sound in the middle of the night. There was another agonized whimper, and when Jiwon looked up to the dark, velvet sky, he saw that it was a full moon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Goddamn, is this what Jinhwan woke me up for?" He utters to himself before throwing his cigarette away, stomping on it, and then walking in speed towards the noise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't a werewolf… yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon found a boy on the ground, struggling in pain, drooling, sweating bullets, and he knows exactly what's happening to him. He knows it well because he had experienced the same thing many, many years ago. The boy was set to break every bone in his body, to shapeshift as an animal of the moon. He's in transition to become a wolf for the </span>
  <em>
    <span>first time.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He stoops down to level with him, lifting his chin up to make him meet his eyes. "How old are you, boy?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The younger has his teeth gritted, in pain and anger. He spits and bluntly says, "Who are you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon cocks a brow, impatient. The boy groans again, his shoulders already dislocated. He’s on his hands and knees. Jiwon tightens his grip on his chin. "How old are you? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Answer me."</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't mean to use compulsion on him, but he figures wolves in transition are mostly filled with aggression, and he's not about to talk to a mad little wolf. He has to make him calm down at the very least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"18,” the wolf answers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who did you kill?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he's back to thrashing on the ground, the moon was even brighter now. It creates a shadow between the two of them, one that seems like a premonition of a new bond. Jiwon doesn't see it. There's a feeling that swells in his chest but he waits for it to subside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I didn't kill anyone, I swear!" Jiwon watches as tears flow down his cheeks from his eyes, legs forcing him to stay on all fours, and he's starting to grow fangs. He's too young to be experiencing this, Jiwon thinks. He was young too, back then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You killed someone, else you wouldn't be in this situation," he tells him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's happening to me?" He asks, and his tone of voice was full of desperation that Jiwon wants to look away. The scene in front of him was just awfully familiar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a young Jiwon at the back of his memory, accidentally killing his friend when he tackled him to the ground, his eyes are open as death takes his life. And Jiwon was too afraid, too helpless. He hid in a cave, away from his pack, away from his mother who promised to help him when </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> day comes. One bone breaks and he's yelling, and then there was another, and then the rest. He never thought he'd live through it. He turned on the first full moon of that fateful month, nobody heard his cries. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's your name, boy?" He demands sharply, cutting the scene of his own transition to a halt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Junhoe," the little wolf answers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're about to turn into a wolf, Junhoe. Any minute now." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's a witness when a ring gold swallows Junhoe's brown eyes, replacing the orbs anew and reflecting the stark moonlight. Before he could maul at Jiwon, he <a id="back3" name="back3"></a><a id="back3" name="back3"></a>snaps his neck to death.<a href="#note3"><sup>3</sup> </a> 
</span></p><p>
  <span>The wolf lies lifeless on his lap, Jiwon brushes its hair with his fingers, white and refined. It's temporary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't worry, little wolf. I'll take care of you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon was true to his words. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>From: Jungjae</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I thought I was going to fetch you but you were already gone by 6. Still awake?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hanbin sighs as he stares at the text his boyfriend sent him. How does one explain that he's practically kidnapped by an aggressive-looking wolf, forced to rip a vampire-hybrid's heart, and then, currently blood-linked with a witch who has a backup plan when he dies? On top of that, he's also set to go on a mission to kill possibly the worst demon slash keeper slash witch so the said vampire-hybrid with psychopathic tendencies could retrieve the last part of an immortal stone and resurrect his dead alpha mom?? And all without his consent???</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's another sigh as he types in a reply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To: Jungjae</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Went home early. Felt sick. I'll see you tomorrow!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was only very little attachment between Jaewon and him, at least on Hanbin’s side. He met the guy last week in a university scholarship seminar. Jaewon stared at him far too much for his comfort, but when they had the chance to talk, he found himself smiling at his words, laughing at his jokes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After that, they went for a date. One thing led to another and Hanbin had magically bagged himself a boyfriend, a pretty mortal who knows nothing about the supernatural that lingers just around the campus. Wolves, vampires, witches, Hanbin can smell them all distinctively. He tries his best to protect Jaewon from all of them once or twice. He supposes it was necessary, he's the one to bring him into his world after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has no idea how to protect him from Jiwon though, because he knows the hybrid would do anything just to get what he wants. Jinhwan said he's waited a thousand years just for him. Hanbin still has no idea why it was him. Hanbin wonders if this was meant to be his purpose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his eyes drifted into sleep, he didn't expect to be paid a visit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All he heard was the voice of the Moon Goddess, soft and feminine, something that could easily bring comfort with just one whisper.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Jiwon will never hurt you, nor the people that you love." </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And Hanbin thinks, since when was the Goddess pro-hybrid??</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And since when was he a chosen one???</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A light tap on his cheek was what woke him up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin considers himself as a heavy sleeper, he never really stirs easily. But the trait only applies when he's lying comfortably in his own bed. And while the bedroom in the mansion in which he's sleeping in was far too lavish than what he's accustomed to, he barely had a decent amount of sleep. So he pushes the hand away and pulls a blanket over his head to cover his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Time to wake up, love." There's a shiver that travels down his spine when he hears a low voice. "We got a big day ahead." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blanket was pulled away from his body and Hanbin grunts, blinking slowly. He couldn't believe the first thing he does when he wakes up is to glare at the hybrid, in a maroon Henley shirt with long-sleeves and hair still wet. He smells of peachy aftershave… citrus accord… sandalwood cedar… and Hanbin has to remind himself that something was </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> wrong with the guy so he keeps the compliments at bay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does look… youthful, though. That’s all he can say without sounding too much like a die-hard fan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Step aside, or I'll kick your face," he scowls as a greeting, kicking the sheets off his body and sitting up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon chuckles, really stepping aside. "We're going to have a meeting for breakfast. After the briefing, we'll go straight to your university. Or maybe stop by first at your house, so you can get clothes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, what are we going to do at my uni?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid walks to the doorway, completely unbothered. He stops by the hinge, saying, "We're going to break up with your boyfriend. How fun, right?" And then he's gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He did hear him shout, "Get to the dining hall, witch!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin groans, free-falling on the bed once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This just got even more complicated. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The dining hall looks even more hectic now, although it's just the three of them. There are mortal helpers working around while Jiwon, Junhoe, and Jinhwan are already seated on the dining table waiting for him to come. They eat in silence for half an hour. Nobody was bringing anything up and Hanbin almost choked… twice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the table was finally clean again, Jinhwan laid out a box in front of him, covered in a silk fabric wrapper tied at the end. Hanbin looks at him with questioning eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Open it," the older witch commands. Hanbin follows, untying it with ease and then pulling the top cover of the black box with a matte finish. There are different products inside—perfume, supplements, a silver necklace with an anchor pendant. Hanbin raises his head, still confused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's from Jinhwan's vervain shop," Jiwon says, obviously joking. He almost scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have a vervain anklet. I don't need this." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid cocks a brow at what he said, amused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's for Jung Jaewon," Junhoe finally speaks, Hanbin turns his head to his direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about him?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're so slow, love," Jiwon interferes. "We're about to compel your lovely mortal," he says it like it was the most normal thing ever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And maybe, considering Jiwon was a thousand year-old werewolf slash vampire slash hybrid, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> the most normal thing ever. At least in the best Jiwon sense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Here's how shit's gonna go. I'm giving you two choices, love. One, I compel Jung Jaewon to forget about you. Give him vervain after so he'll be safe with other vampires and he'll never be compelled again. Two, I kill Jung Jaewon and he doesn't have to worry about anything in his godforsaken life. Which is neat, by the way. I'll definitely enjoy that," Jiwon wiggles his eyebrows, smiling at him like a psycho. "So, your pick." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just compel him," Hanbin answers without batting an eye.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Bummer,” Jiwon pouts mockingly.  “Anyway, here comes another set of choices. One, I tell Jung Jaewon that you guys broke up, ended on a cute note, and tell him to move on and never think about you except when he's feeling nostalgic. Two, I tell Jung Jaewon to completely forget about your existence, that he never met you, and all the bad memories you had with each other will be gone," The hybrid smirks.   </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin rolls his eyes, "First of all, we only met for like, a week. And second, we do not have bad memories for that reason. Just make him forget about me altogether," he crosses his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well then, I guess we shall make bad memories now." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finishes his glass. Hanbin only realizes it's blood when Jiwon wipes his mouth, leaving a stain on the table napkin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin wasn't even sure if it was the right thing to do. But he hates having excess baggage and Jaewon might turn out to be one. It might be best for him to just forget his existence instead of remembering him from time to time. He watches as the trio talks in the living room, waiting for him to gather himself. He's hugging the box of vervain stuff that he's supposed to give to Jaewon, putting it down for a minute to wear his backpack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll just use the bathroom," he says, quickly turning to head to where the restroom is. He really didn't want to use it, he was just making an excuse to make a quick detour, pushing the door of the storage room and then walking straight to the drawers where Jinhwan kept the vials of Jiwon's blood. He takes a handful and shoves them in his bag. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Just in case. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He was not going to leave this place without a back-up plan either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was about to leave but he stopped in front of the table, where an album of memorabilia lies open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin sees a different Jiwon, from different timelines, and decades, all in different film colors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His look changes every time. He assumes it was to fit in, of course, or to avoid being recognized as someone who never ages. He wonders if he had ever used a fake name. The date was written at the bottom of the page. In the early 2000s Jiwon was shirtless at the beach, brown curly hair a mess as the wind blew in his direction, bright orange board shorts and he saw a younger-looking Jinhwan drinking on a flute, seated on the plastic recliner, shirtless too. He sees that Jiwon has a tattoo that covers most of his upper chest, the picture doesn't have the best quality but he makes out an art of a shipwreck, mermaids, and waves. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>2009, Kim Jinhwan, El Nido, Palawan</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon in the 70s was wearing a leather jacket, white top, hair slicked back, and a lit cigarette in between his fingers, smiling as he leaned on his Harley. He's outside a club and the only light that could be seen was from the red and orange retro sign board. There's a man beside him, holding a lighter, a stick in his lips, blonde hair, and a boyish smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>1975, Ezra Kim, Studio 54, New York</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>In the middle 20s, his hair was styled straight with a side part and a fade. He's wearing a three-piece suit in dark blue and velvet red. There's a girl beside him, sharp almond eyes, heart-shaped lips, in a sequined dress with silver fringes at the end that reaches just above her knees, and the fabric hugs her body perfectly, a purple ribbon wrapped around her dainty neck. Jiwon was holding her waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>1924, Freya Deveraux, Chicago, Illinois </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He was about to go further but then there's a knock on the door, and Jinhwan was staring at him. He distances himself from the table and hides his hands in his pockets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon's waiting for you outside." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, yes,” he timidly says, following him, secretly hoping he wouldn't snitch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The plan was to break up with Jung Jaewon, go to his house to get his things, and then head back to the mansion for more briefings. For some unknown reasons, Hanbin feels fine with all of it. He almost feels </span>
  <em>
    <span>excited.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He partly blames the lack of significant events happening to his life after being shunned. Or the fact that the Goddess showed up in his dreams. Or maybe it's the Stockholm syndrome kicking in this early. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A 1968 Pontiac Firebird welcomed him as soon as he stepped outside, almost the same color as Jiwon's Henley shirt. The said hybrid was sitting on its hood, fingers playing with the car keys. Hanbin notices that he's already wearing the daylight ring he made. Judging from the way he's not burning under the sun, it worked. There's a smirk on his face when he sees him. Hanbin fights the urge to roll his eyes, but he feels proud. His magic didn’t fail him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hello, lovely witch. Are you ready to break some hearts?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin scoffs, "Yeah, whatever." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He settles himself in the passenger seat without much thought. Jiwon taps Junhoe's shoulder before going in too. Hanbin doesn't realize the wolf was coming with them and was supposed to sit on where he was seated. Instead he's huffing at the back. Hanbin wants to apologize but he just ends up staring straight, baffled at how much Jiwon's scent lingers around him, wafts into his system like an enchantment, or a curse. He opts for the latter and tries to wile his thoughts away about how </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprisingly, Junhoe kind of smells the same. There's a distinct smell between a vampire and a werewolf. It’s how Hanbin knows who he’s dealing with. Somehow, Junhoe's scent borders on both. Like he's a mix. Like Jiwon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is college fun, Junhoe?" Jiwon breaks the silence by asking, eyes fixed on the road.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's okay," Junhoe tells him gruffly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What course are you taking again?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Finance." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon hums, "Nice. And what about you, Hanbin?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes a second before finally saying, "Psych." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Typical." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gives the hybrid the stink eye which was replied with a chuckle. What does </span>
  <em>
    <span>Psych</span>
  </em>
  <span> being </span>
  <em>
    <span>typical</span>
  </em>
  <span> even means?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin thinks Jiwon sounds like a Dad driving his kids to school. He's old enough to be one. Well, honestly, he's old enough. That's it. And he should've been dead by now, if he weren’t this all-powerful supernatural being. He doesn't voice it out because he doesn't want to be the dead man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you mean by that?" He furrows his brows. Jiwon only shrugs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've never been to college," the hybrid confesses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Clearly, you should have," he answers, and hears a scoff from the back seat. The wolf must've not liked it when he talks back to Jiwon. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What a bootlicker. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been to a high school though. Back in the early 90s. It's too much work so I dropped out. Anyway, how old are you?" Jiwon turns his head to look at him briefly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"24."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sweet. You're technically older than me. I was 22 when I died. I'm forever 22, by the way. I think that famous clothing line was inspired by my life story," Jiwon winks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin snorts, "It's Forever21, you idiot. And you should've finished high school at least because you definitely don't know how to use the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>technically."</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid just laughs at him, shaking his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe was the first one to be dropped off. He watches him walk to the hallways—standing tall and straight—before opening the door and getting out too. Jiwon was wearing wayfarers when he stepped out, hands in his pockets like he's some hotshot. Hanbin grimaces, thinking it was unnecessary but who knows what's running in the hybrid's mind?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, someone from the faculty might recognize and wonder why I'm not aging," the hybrid explains when he realizes his subtle (not so subtle) judgment. "Now, move along, love." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still doesn't understand which behavior will make Jiwon call him </span>
  <em>
    <span>witch</span>
  </em>
  <span> and not </span>
  <em>
    <span>love.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He seems to switch up around the two a lot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Junhoe successfully turned into a hybrid last night. Right after Hanbin had caught him drinking from his wrist, he had snapped Junhoe's neck… killing him temporarily. He came back this morning though, burning from the sun and begging for mortal blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan brought out the daylight ring he made years ago when he first brought Junhoe home. It fits perfectly in his finger. Hanbin must've not noticed it but Jiwon was anxious. He's worried about whether Junhoe had broken his <a id="back4" name="back4"></a><a id="back4" name="back4"></a>sire bond<a href="#note3"><sup>4</sup> </a> or not. He hopes the little wolf would act on his own and not by his will. The last thing he wants is Junhoe looking at him like he's his </span>
  <em>
    <span>master. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Back in 2016, he had promised to Junhoe that once he sees a fitting witch to help him kill the last keeper aside from him, he'll end his sufferings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>By that he meant he'll never have to turn every full moon. He'll make him one of his own. A hybrid. One that could turn every time they wish, with little to no pain at all. </span>
</p><p><span>But to do that immediately, it is not guaranteed that Junhoe won't develop a sire bond.</span> <span>So Jiwon told him he had to get used to breaking all bones in his body without relying on him to heal him faster, except when it becomes too much. Junhoe always had some fucked up healing process. He thinks triggering the werewolf gene at an early age might attest to that. Jiwon triggered his werewolf gene early, but he was born a hybrid so it didn't really matter. The vampire in him was activated when he first got killed though. He resurrected immediately and that's how his pack knew that he was different. The dead should stay dead. So, they killed his mother instead.</span></p><p>
  <span>"That's Jaewon," Hanbin points at a tall guy with his dirty blonde hair down, already walking towards them. He squints his eyes behind his glasses. Jung Jaewon looks much older. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, I was looking for you," He puts his arm over Hanbin's shoulders, kissing the side of his forehead. Jiwon lowers his wayfarers then, eyeing them scandalously with his lips pursed. Hanbin rolls his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who is that?" He hears him ask. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have something to give you," Hanbin deflects, shoving the box of vervain stuff on his hand. Jaewon looks at the witch curiously. "You have to use everything in here, okay? Wear them. Drink them. Spray them on. Just make sure you do it every single day. Please?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why? What's in it?" Hanbin then turns to him. And as if it was his cue, Jiwon catches up on it immediately. He pulls at Jaewon's wrist, looking straight into his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hello, Jaewon. My name sounds a lot like yours. I'm Hanbin's new boyfriend, by the way," he chuckles, and even more when Hanbin voices his blatant disapproval. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"You will forget about Kim Hanbin. The previous week will just be a mere interaction with a stranger whose presence and existence no longer consume you. But you will continue to keep using what's in the box without question." </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He lets go of his wrist and covers his eyes once more. It's risky to be in a university since he remembers loitering around in the same place back when it was still getting built. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaewon snaps back into reality. Jiwon watches his eyes become filled with confusion, wondering what he's doing with two strangers. He also hears Hanbin's heart beating fast, like he's nervous it won't work. He really shouldn't doubt when it comes to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, I'm sorry if I bothered you both. I have no idea what I'm doing here," Jaewon scratches the back of his neck and smiles awkwardly, one hand holding the box. He nods at them for the last time before leaving. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both watch his retreating back get farther. Jiwon hears Hanbin sigh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Was the boyfriend thing necessary?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course, love. He's not gonna remember that anyway. Might as well play around," he winks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin has a permanent scowl on his face. It only shows up when he's talking to him though, and Jiwon absolutely loves it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aww, are you gonna miss him?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shut up." </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>It was already past lunch when they reached Hanbin's house. Jiwon didn't expect it would take them a while but he sensed that a shunned witch would take necessary measures to be far away from his coven. Or hidden from other supernatural beings that could harm him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Basically, his mansion and Hanbin's house were located at each end of Falconshore, except the mansion was near the borders, Hanbin's was more in the middle. The road they took was confusing and it didn't help that Hanbin was quiet the whole ride, nodding when agreeing, shaking his head when he's not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't very common in their neighborhood to live in an apartment, and Hanbin lives by himself in a small bungalow-type house with very little </span>
  <em>
    <span>playtime</span>
  </em>
  <span> space. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I just want to get one thing straight. Just one thing," Hanbin says before they could get out. He stares at him and waits, eyebrow raised curiously. "This whole thing… that I'm going to do for you, I won't get anything in return right?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kinda," Jiwon scrunches his nose. Well, he really couldn't think of anything to give Hanbin in exchange… except maybe glory? But that's too old school. He almost laughed at the thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin sighs, "This is so unfair. It's so fucking unfair."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Listen, witch, you got nothing to lose. No job, no coven, no boyfriend, no magic. If you think about it, all you have is me," he grins at the last statement, ending it with another wink just to annoy the witch. It's so easy, all he needs to do is exist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Last night, I dreamt about the Moon Goddess. Is it true she only shows up to the chosen ones? Because if it is, I'll be convinced." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Jiwon's time to roll his eyes this time. The witch obviously needs a whole lot more of coercion but he really has nothing else to offer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Selene shows up whenever the hell she wants just to fuck with people's mind. Don't think too much about her. And oh, while you were being dramatic how this is ‘fucking unfair’, I actually thought of something you'll be getting in return."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What is that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're gonna get the amulet with your coven's energy once you help me, which means you'll have never-ending siphon witchy voodoo magic for eternity. Isn't that cute? Isn’t that fair?" He smiles at him sarcastically, wiggling his eyebrows up and down, and then gets out of the car first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon pretends he doesn't see it, but it's very clear. Hanbin wants a purpose, and the witch was contemplating if this is it. He's smirking as he watches him close the car door carefully. He might’ve pulled his string right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looks like there's really no need for aggravation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin's going to help him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the first time Hanbin had seen anything like it. As if there was an invisible barrier that automatically erects itself on the door lintels, as though a witch had placed a magical boundary spell on the threshold that no vampire can pass through, Jiwon was stuck outside his front door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin watches as Jiwon smiles at him impatiently, head tipped to the side, obviously not liking that he's on the other side of the door while Hanbin's already in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come on, love. Invite me in," he says, voice commanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin shrugs, "I'm not gonna be in this house anymore though. There's really no need." He turns his back on him and heads upstairs to get a few of his things, grinning in triumph when he hears the hybrid curse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a medium-sized duffle bag, he puts the clothes he wears frequently, hoping they'll be enough for whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>adventure</span>
  </em>
  <span> he and Jiwon will go through. Two pairs of sneakers, just in case. Some toiletries. He feels like he's going camping and somehow, probably deep down in his heart where he doesn't have to admit it out loud, he's thrilled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's been so long since something eventful happened in his life. The Goddess appearing in his dreams was the last nail to the coffin. It might be just as fucked as what anyone thinks but Hanbin feels good being wanted again, like he was someone of significance, and there's pride swelling in his chest at the thought that an immortal vampire-hybrid, someone who had lived for a thousand years, someone who cannot be killed, </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. That Jiwon couldn't do it by himself this time and he needs his help. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which means he's just as important</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin has never felt like he mattered until Jinhwan said they've been looking for him, even if it’s not specifically him, just some roaming witch. He catches a glimpse of fire in his eyes when he looks at his reflection. And whether or not he's a bait or someone Jiwon would forsake after getting what he wants, he holds himself back from thinking that far. It wasn’t the right time to think about the future when they’re just starting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's definitely doing this. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"How are you planning to kill Jung Chanwoo?" He asks as they drive back home, tapping his fingers on his thigh like he was anxious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Definitely like how I killed the others," Jiwon answers like it was nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And how did you kill the others?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid furrows his brows as the sunlight hits his eyes, bobbing his head to let the wayfarers cover them. Hanbin just blocks it, raising his hand to his eye-level. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, to retrieve the fragments of the immortal stone, you must first remove the part of the keeper's body where it's supposed to be hidden. Once the stone is out of the keeper's possession, they return to their natural form. I killed Im Nayeon by spearing her eyes, you've probably heard of that story. It was quite popular," he chuckles, "Anyway, the second stone, I needed to decapitate the Veela, which I successfully did, as you may know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where do you keep yours?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon turns his head and faces him. He's sporting an amused expression before, biting on his lower lip, he laughs, "You wanna kill me that bad? I'm not telling you, witch."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin rolls his eyes. Of course. Jiwon may not look like it, but he's smart. He wouldn’t have been able to plan all of this if he wasn’t.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine. Where does Jung Chanwoo keep his?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know… yet. That's for you to find out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, honestly, I'm still confused. Why does it </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be me?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The car stops and when he looks around, the mansion appears. Jinhwan said something about a cloaking spell, which means he probably hid it away from a human's view. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jinhwan didn't tell you?" The hybrid tilts his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Tell me what?" Hanbin’s eyebrows knit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jung Chanwoo is a White Lotus witch. You guys are probably related." It's what he says before leaving him dumbfounded.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe was already at home. And Jinhwan had a whole map of some sorts lying on the living room floor. Wearing another clean suit and a plaid coat, he seems to like formality a lot. Hanbin would find it absurd had he not been too in character every time he sees him. While the older witch was a fan of tailored suits, Hanbin notices that the hybrid was more into long-sleeves. They both raise their heads to look at them the moment they set foot inside the mansion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What took you so long?" Jinhwan asks, focused on the map again. He flinches when the candles around him light up, and then Jinhwan is slitting his palm, just a little cut, letting the blood drop on the map as it forms a small red circle. Hanbin gasps when he feels his own palm opening up, his own blood dripping down the map and mixing with Jinhwan's. When the witch healed himself, he healed too. It was then he remembers they were linked. And wow, he didn't think it really worked that way. His jaw is on the ground, still in awe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hanbin cried because he doesn't wanna let go of his mortal baby boy," Jiwon flops on the couch beside Junhoe, stretching his legs and putting them on top of the werewolf's lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I did not," He sits in front of Jinhwan on the floor when the older witch gestures for him to do so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You probably still think I linked your blood with mine to threaten you. Well, that's what I told you yesterday but it's not really </span>
  <em>
    <span>solely</span>
  </em>
  <span> for that reason." Hanbin hugs his knees as he listens, Jiwon and Junhoe seem to listen too as the two were particularly quiet. "The truth is, our blood is linked so I can monitor the direction of where you and Jiwon are headed." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's like a CCTV. That's what he meant," Jiwon butts in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you really need to do that?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan pays him no mind. The blood on the map starts moving, making a line and stopping at a place called </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mirrors of Abomination. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"There are two things you need to find to locate Jung Chanwoo's lair. Since I am only a connecting witch, it is your job to perform spells. I assume you know to the basics?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin nods. Of course he does. It was taught in every village and Witchport even had advanced lessons. He was also always eager to learn everything in the coven that he ended up staying late at night to read grimoires of old White Lotus witches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I'm quite the best," he boasts, which earns a laugh from Jiwon, which in turn earns a glare from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"To perform a locator spell, you need the blood of the demon witch and the herbs to bind it. There's a vial hidden somewhere in this place," he points at the place where the blood stopped. "Jung Chanwoo had left it there for safekeeping, almost a thousand years ago too before he turned. There are different places but they have been ravished by a bunch of unfortunate fortuitous events."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's with this place? Has anyone ever tried to get in there? And did they manage to come back? Alive?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The place is hidden under a cloaking spell which could only be seen by an immortal supernatural and their offering of sorts. Many have tried to seek it as they believed Jung Chanwoo's blood could cure the most painful illness there is but nobody had ever succeeded," Jinhwan shrugs, wetting his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, if Jiwon is the immortal supernatural… then I'm the offering? Which means I won't get out of there alive? No way, I'm not dying in there,” Hanbin’s eyes widened, mortified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon sits up then, leaning forward, "I'll protect you, love. You don't have to worry about safety when you're with me." The side of his lips rises, then he winks. Hanbin's face crumbles and he feels like it was the most appropriate time for him to throw a whole body tantrum. He successfully refrained himself from doing it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I actually don't feel safe when I'm around you so where do we go from here?" Jiwon pretends to be hurt by clutching at his heart and then pouting. Hanbin fights the urge to throw the knife in front of Jinhwan to the hybrid's direction. He successfully refrained himself from doing it too. Being around Jiwon is a lot harder than he thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The older witch clears his throat, catching both of their attention. "As I was saying, once you're in possession of Jung Chanwoo's blood, it means you're one step closer to locating him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Obviously," Hanbin mumbles to himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blood moves again and stops at a place called</span>
  <em>
    <span> Flowerhedge.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hanbin had heard of it before. It's a forbidden place for witches and a hunting ground for werewolves. It's a place where vampires live without restrictions, which means they could do anything they want, kill anyone they have come across with, and nothing could ever stop them. The minute you step inside, they have already waged a claim on you. Hanbin shivered at the thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This place is dangerous for you," Jinhwan stares at him. "Judging from your reaction, you already know why." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've heard of stories—" Hanbin huffs in annoyance when Jiwon interferes once more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Again, I'll keep you safe. There's really nothing to worry about. Are we forgetting I killed two keepers already? This is just a piece of cake."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan looks at the hybrid like he's fed up too, rolling his eyes in detest. "This </span>
  <em>
    <span>piece of cake</span>
  </em>
  <span> is different, Jiwon. The place is basically like a hell of its own. It's peculiar and very dangerous, especially among witches. And you have one right here. Vampires are known to harbor extra feelings, heightened to the point of insanity, and that includes having a sense of libido that is maximized once you step just as simple as one foot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't like where this is going," Hanbin tells him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan smiles, it's unsettling and strange. Then he shrugs and continues, "The specific herb you need to get a hold of is a mix of aconite and witch hazel." He spares Jiwon a knowing glance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wolfsbane," Jiwon mutters in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As far as he's aware, wolfsbane has the same effect on werewolves as that of vervain to vampires. Jiwon happens to be both. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's best if you let Hanbin retrieve it. Just focus on keeping him safe." Jinhwan advises, looking back at Jiwon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aren't you immune to wolfsbane by now? I saw you put it in your drink once," Junhoe asks the hybrid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon smiles with his eyes as he ruffles Junhoe's hair. Hanbin sees adoration in it that he's never seen with anyone he talks to, not even with Jinhwan. He must be harboring some deep regard with the wolf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I tried doing it but it burned my throat so I stopped. Why do you have to make me expose myself like that?" Junhoe snorts, shaking his head but breaking out a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What is supposed to happen in this place?" Hanbin asks curiously, wariness evident in his voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not really sure but it's best to do necessary measures. I've packed every weapon I know that could harm a vampire. It's for you to use." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, where are the herbs exactly? And does it only grow in that place?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Flowerhedge used to be an old coven, that's why it's full of herbs. The vampires eradicated the witches who lived there, and when they found out some herbs are very harmful to werewolves, they mass produced them to fill the place with. The herbs will be easy to find. Jiwon has a great sense of smell anyway." He turns to Jiwon, who was moving his eyebrows up and down with a wide smile as if to boast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Once you're finally in possession of both Jung Chanwoo's blood and the herbs, you can perform the spell right away, on a map like this, it will lead you to a place called The Shadow… nobody knows what happens in there. I suppose my connection will be cut off when you're already in his lair." Jinhwan folds the map in twos, then the candles around him burn out. Hanbin blinks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And then I kill Jung Chanwoo. Sweet," Jiwon clasps both of his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin snorts, "You don't even know which part to remove." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon laughs as if he said the most ridiculous thing. "I plan to remove every part of his body, love. Just to be sure," He clicks his tongue as he stands up. Hanbin shivers. "Get ready. We're leaving in 10." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe was about to follow the hybrid to wherever he's off to but Jinhwan catches his wrist to tell him he should be back for training. The wolf groans in detest but complies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What now?" He asks, and he wasn't expecting the older witch to smile at him, pushing a small box to his direction. Hanbin opens it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's the amulet. And the energy that comes along with it is oozing, Hanbin thinks if he doesn’t do anything soon, it’ll overflow, so he doesn't waste more time and wears it on his neck immediately. It looks good. It feels good. It’s been so long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan lifts his hand, and then all the lights die out. "Care to show off?" He hears him say amidst the dark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a smile on his lips as he raises a finger, steady and focused. Just like how he used to do it when he was in the coven. The magic flows into him effortlessly like it’s been with him ever since, lightly like a touch of a feather. A candle catches a fire, another one, then two… three… and as soon as he opens up his hand, there's an uncontrollable wind circulating the room as all the lights brighten up altogether. He and Jinhwan were laughing, the older looking around in amusement. It felt euphoric. It felt magical. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You really are a witch." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hanbin didn't have much time to process all the information Jinhwan laid out for them. First of all, there's really no testimony from previous </span>
  <em>
    <span>offerings</span>
  </em>
  <span> that would tell him how to get past—or realistically, to survive being in the Mirrors of Abomination. As corny as it sounds, he has no idea what's in store for the both of them once they reach their first stop. What bothers him the most is that he's actually risking his life going into Flowerhedge where vampires shamelessly prey on witches just to get some herbs that may or may not lead him to where an all-powerful demon slash witch slash keeper hides. It gets scarier if he thinks about it too hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Second of all, he still couldn't believe he's somehow related to Jung Chanwoo? The fact that the keeper was a White Lotus witch doesn't sit well with his spirit. Even though White Lotus witches don’t have a good reputation, based on his experience. He was the one set out to find him because it would be easier. Witches from the same coven always had a way of searching families. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lastly, Jiwon seems to be calm with all of this. He seems to not mind whether he gets killed as long as he gets a hold of what was needed. Hanbin has no doubts that Jiwon would do anything to keep him safe. But after he has performed a locator spell, or after they have found where in the hell is The Shadow located, he's not really sure what will happen to him then. He'll probably be considered chopped liver at that point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the bright side, he cannot express how </span>
  <em>
    <span>ecstatic</span>
  </em>
  <span> he is to be able to do magic again. This is his element. He touches the lapis lazuli stone on his neck and hides his smile. Junhoe gives him a side-eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were in a room from the trap door doing some last minute training for his own safety. The room was mostly wooden, and furnished, with sewn mannequins filled with cottons and a few human replicas that looked very realistic. Junhoe says they resemble Jiwon's enemies through the years. Hanbin can see it through their clothings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinhwan gave him an option to pick his weapon of choice. He got a pistol, claiming it would be convenient. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't an ordinary pistol, it has wooden bullets soaked in vervain. He tried to aim at a mannequin's leg and he missed </span>
  <em>
    <span>terribly. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Junhoe snickers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have a lame grip," The wolf tells him in a deadpan expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin gives him a hostile smile, refraining himself from glaring. "Yeah, well, it's the first time I'm holding a gun. Unlike you guys, I'm not really violent," he argues, and then tries again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He managed to hit an ankle this time. He felt a little proud. Junhoe interrupts his rejoice by holding on his hand, instructing him to grip firmer. Hanbin almost flinches with the way Junhoe was too close, and there's something new in him… something he's never sensed in him before. A new energy, new scent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you want to kill a vampire, aim at the heart," Junhoe says, his eyes showing no emotions. "Or at the throat, just to weaken them, and then you come closer to rip their heart out." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So the heart is always the way to go?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Obviously." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> roll his eyes at that. The wolf was too apathetic, too sulky. At least Jinhwan was a little friendly, despite the fact that he threatened him… and Jiwon is… well, Jiwon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He closes one eye and tries to aim at the mannequin's heart, grip firm, knees steady… he holds his breath and a lop-sided grin unwillingly forms on his mouth. He's going to use some magic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The aim was perfect. It felt even more realistic because the mannequin was now lying on the ground, bleeding, apparently stuffed with a blood bag in the chest area. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The heart is very fragile when it comes to vampires but Jiwon can't die, right? Maybe I should shoot him one day."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin admits that never in his whole 24 years of living had he expected something like this to happen to him. Yesterday he was kidnapped, last night he was threatened to be killed, and just a while ago he was forced to take on an adventure with a psychopathic 1000+ year-old vampire-hybrid off to his possible doom in just a few days' time. He thought when he was shunned, he'd live a normal life. Clearly, he was extremely wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But all those things couldn't make up with how shocked he is with what's happening to him </span>
  <em>
    <span>right now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe has him pinned on the wall. It catches him off guard, rendering him speechless,  too fast that his head hit the sturdy brick and too sudden that he almost felt his breath getting knocked out of his lungs. Junhoe's eyes are glowing, black with a ring of gold, fangs bare, and there are prominent veins running down his cheeks. If Hanbin was only in doubt a while ago, he was sure now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe isn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> a wolf anymore. He's no longer pure. Jiwon had turned him into a hybrid. One of his own. Just like him. Why he'd done that, he doesn't know. He'd guess a thing or two but he'd rather ask. "Let go of me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You think I don't know what you're up to?" The wolf scowls through gritted teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin narrows his eyes, "What the hell are you talking about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I could smell Jiwon's blood in your bag. You took some from the storage room, didn't you?" Every word he said was sharp. If he was the Hanbin from an hour ago, he would've been scared shitless. But he could be brave now, he’s got his magic back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin wasn't even surprised. He knew he'd get caught anyway, he just thought it would be Jiwon to do so. It was odd that nobody seemed to mind except this wolf in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you hurt him, I'll kill you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon will kill you if you kill me," he says confidently, just to rile him up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't care. I'll rip your heart to pieces if you just do so much as hurt him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're acting like this because you're sired to him, Junhoe. Let me go." He struggles to get away but the wolf only tightens his hold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I broke the sire bond already, witch. I'm doing this because… " he pauses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin squints at him. It's there. With Junhoe… he can see it very well. Not just some simple regard, not just an act of being grateful. He's trying to protect Jiwon… "Because you love him." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the look in Junhoe's eyes, the way his face comes to a calm, veins and fangs retreating, grip on his wrists loosening, say it all. He's right about his claim. "Mind your own fucking business, witch," the wolf snarls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Call it pettiness but when Junhoe finally lets go of him, he lifts his hand and chants a little spell. It sends the wolf on his knees, clutching on his temple because of a searing magic-induced headache, trying his best not to scream. Hanbin smirks, "Yeah, but don't mess with me again, little wolf."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaves the room with the pistol in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, not only is he dealing with a difficult vampire-hybrid and a witch who linked his blood to his, there's also a wolf with some sort of a reverse Oedipus complex who's hell-bent on making him suffer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's stuck in places he shouldn't be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nice. Love me some Lara Croft type of witch." Jiwon comes out of nowhere, arms crossed and leaning on the doorway with a smirk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin glares at him, "I'll shoot you, get out of my way." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid raises both of his hands and gives him space to walk past him. "Hot." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least, they're leaving today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all honesty, he doesn't know if that was something to celebrate either.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <ol>
  <li>
<a id="note1" name="note1"></a>I probably missed explaining this in the first chapter. But it basically means the same as how feral wolves are. Wolves = travel in pack | ferals = no pack; Witches = binded by nature, loyal | roaming witches = either shunned or lost from their coven. Me = doing the most with this footnote.
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/67451803#back1"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

<li>
<a id="note2" name="note2"></a>"Vervain is a potent herb and a vampire's most well-known weakness. If a vampire makes physical contact with vervain in any form, it will burn them. If a vampire ingests vervain, the vampire's throat and digestive tract will be burned and they will become feverish and extremely weak. If a human ingests or holds vervain somewhere in or on the body (e,g, holding it in a hand or pocket, wearing it in jewelry), the human is protected from vampire compulsion." Yeah, I copied this off FandomWiki, sue me.
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/67451803#back2"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

<li>
<a id="note3" name="note3"></a>Okay, so in TVD/TO, werewolves can die like non-supernatural beings. But in here, there's a separation of their wolf side and human side. Which means, they can die of suffocation, extreme blood loss, a broken neck, decapitation, fire, heart extraction, etc., when they're in their human form but as a wolf, the only way to kill them is through the magical herb called wolfsbane. If you think this doesn't make any sense, tell me in the comments so I can change it completely lol.
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/67451803#back3"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>

<li>
<a id="note4" name="note4"></a>"Hybrids are loyal to their sire, and will seek their acceptance because their blood created them—this is called a "Sire Bond". Every hybrid is very loyal even when acting out of free will, they can't stop doing what their sire says." Basically, Jiwon wants Junhoe to have his own will, and rightfully so, because he doesn't like taking choices from others. Well, except maybe when he forced Hanbin to join his 'Let's kill a keeper' club. Anyway, there's always an exception to the general rule *wink wink* I also personally think (lol) Jiwon has developed a sire bond with the Moon Goddess, since she's the one who created him. That's why he does everything she asks, like forgetting the memory of Hanbin's birth for example.
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/67451803#back4"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>
</ol>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. flesh without blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is significantly shorter lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The best thing about being a vampire is the heightened emotions the human brain wouldn't be able to process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not something that happens for one moment and then gone the next. It's constant and unwavering, altering how his mind works, following him wherever. It's a reckless push and pull of emotions that never fails to send him reeling over the edge, uncontrollable… vile… there's only one way to make it stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not just happy, he's elated, over the moon. The laugh he lets out is nothing but a mere expression of how ecstatic he is to be experiencing an unusual, extreme kind of pleasure. Like how a mortal would act when they won the lottery, something that he might find so trivial and yet it brings other joy. To feel, and to feel good. There are different sensations in his body, running through every known vein. His brain is on overdrive as if wanting to free, or to just stop working. It's something that borders on insanity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not just excited, he's thrilled. He hears every single nerve on his body tick in a rhythm so hurried that he’s not able to keep up.  His own heartbeat is on a race, in rapid beats, goosebumps breaking on his skin. His world spins in various directions, lulling him into a dizzying state of ideas rushing into tens and thousands, and he can't stand. So he crawls and waits for it to subside. It was always different, but he always liked it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not just in love, he's obsessed, head over heels. He's glorifying gods after gods as if it was his fate. Like letting a flame consume him, beyond lifetimes, among countless lovers who all turned to ash through time's unforgiving tide… over and over again until he deems it enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After all, who doesn't love to be loved? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And while he feels a little bit of everything here and there, nothing comes close to when he's down on his knees, face buried in between supple thighs, hot tongue running over pink flesh… Jiwon loves in the form of worships. There's satisfaction every time he hears his name chanted through long ragged breaths, from heaving chests, when he's pulled through the depths of nothingness, his senses on flight, his brain on short circuit. Jiwon loved seeing tears at the side of each sparkling almond eyes, or the way plump heart-shaped lips part to release the most delectable whine, for him and him only.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Look at me…" he calls, kissing every nook of her body, the mole under her breast, the scar on her waist, breaking skin, and sucking marks. She meets his eyes and smiles, so sweet he could almost taste it at the end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you," he confesses, "Through decades and years, I would love you still." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kisses her on the lips, soft and unforgiving, like he would die if he doesn’t do it now. It sends him spiraling into a world where it's just the two of them… drowning… washed up to the shore, but together nonetheless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a switch, somewhere in the depths of a vampire's brain. To turn off all emotions… no joy, no sadness, no remorse. To feel nothing and forget. It's quite like death but instead of lessening the actions and going idle, one goes into a state of heightened activity and kills, one to tens, tens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands, until a certain memory comes knocking, something so definite, so significant, something that would pull him back up from the abyss, something he's been holding onto despite being in the void, a light of hope in the sea of darkness, that could turn it all back on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon had tried it once or twice, when it became too much to handle. He’d turn the switch off and feel nothing. The memory that knocks him off of it was always her—kissing her, loving her, spending his eternity with her. And just like that he feels again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every time it all goes back to normal—the emotions, the consciousness, even the conscience—Jiwon daggers himself and prefers to desiccate away. It has been a long-time excuse that he’s doing it to morally forget, but of course, the excuse was debatable. After all, Jiwon was a vampire-hybrid with a lot of guilt, he’s doing it to run away from his past actions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Consistently, having emotions twice as extreme is the worst.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not just sad, he's grieving. He mourns for a loss deeply, without hesitation, without question. The pain is an agonizing bit of tricks, of twists, and turns without redemption. It sucks the soul out of him, whatever's left of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not crying, he wails. His heart being torn to pieces was never a metaphor, the urge to rip it out is there. And he always gives in. Sharp nails clawing in his chest, seeking their way to feel it beating heavily on his palm. It will only take him a second to pull it out and then he's gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not just broken, he's devastated. Irredeemably so, beyond repair. Hoping is an exercise in futility… he's all alone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hanbin couldn't believe they'd be traveling by land. He's observing the trio as Jiwon loads their luggages in the trunk of his Pontiac, which includes weapons, a cooler of blood bags, and clothes. He has no idea how far the places were to each other but judging from the amount of </span>
  <em>
    <span>food</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jiwon brought, he assumes it'll be a long ride. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's O positive, very delicious, good for the heart." Jiwon chuckles before closing the trunk, and then turning his back from it to stare at him, as if asking if he was ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, tell me where'd you get that vervain anklet of yours, love?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"None of your business." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The anklet was a gift from his mother, who died when he was very young. Her last words included taking care of himself and avoiding vampires at all cost. She always told him about how shrewd they could get, using witches to their benefit and then offing them when they lost their value. Well, Hanbin finds himself entangled with one now, a powerful breed of monster, mixed with a thousand years of cunning antagonism. He hopes she's not that disappointed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She might've found </span>
  <a id="back1" name="back1"></a><a id="back1" name="back1"></a>peace<a href="#note1"><sup>1</sup> </a>
  <span> already, she wouldn't care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Junhoe and Jinhwan were just behind them, waiting to bid their goodbyes. Hanbin wonders if they're ever worried Jiwon would never come back. Sure, he's immortal, he won't die and all that, but what if one day, Jiwon just decides he doesn't really need a covenless witch and a packless wolf by his side? What if he realized he's been without them for years and he had lived? What if he just disappeared and went away forever? What if he just forgot about them? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I should come with you," the younger wolf says with furrowed brows, his eyes are emotionless but Hanbin can sense that he's agitated, he smells of the earth and burnt forest wood. He's angry and upset. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon smiles slyly at him, coming closer to ruffle his hair but Junhoe pushes his hand away lightly, ducking his head. He doesn't seem taken aback though, he just purses his lips and hums, "I'll see you soon, little wolf." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid spares the older witch with a quick glance and a nod of understanding. Hanbin supposes he wanted to tell him to take care of Junhoe but decides against it. Jinhwan will do regardless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Be careful out there, Kim Hanbin." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin just shrugs, uncertain. Who knows? This might be his last breath. With the hybrid by his side, Jinhwan had said he’ll be safe undoubtedly. But Hanbin doesn’t want to trust him just yet. It’s still a little early for the two of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, drama's over, witches. Let's hit the road. The earlier I get to kill Jung Chanwoo, the better,” Jiwon says proudly. Hanbin’s mind applauds him for being confident though, not like he could do it without him. But then again he killed two keepers already, maybe his contribution is to just make things easier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets inside his vintage car. It's either he'll have the greatest adventure of his life or he wouldn't be fortunate enough to live to tell the story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he hopes, to all the Gods and Goddesses, he hopes that someone will be out there to do so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In case it really is his last.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The car ride was expected to be awkward. On the back of his mind, he wished he had the initiative to tell Jiwon they could've gone away in the morning, as early as the sunrise. They were out in the dead of the night, the wind as silent as the breathings that linger between the two of them. He couldn't make out the road ahead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon probably has no difficulty driving blindly under stark moonlight. He supposes he has convenient night vision which could be attested to his werewolf gene. It's pretty unfair in all honesty. Jiwon has everything while he doesn't even have magic on his own. Hanbin traces the lines of the hybrid's face with his eyes, watching him clench his jaws, sharp, and perfectly cut. It's a shame, really, he thinks he's an old hag. He snorts at the thought, instinctively leaning his head on the window when Jiwon directs his eyes on him, as if trying not to get caught, but miserably failing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can feel him smirking and he hates it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just to let you know…" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" He snarls. The hybrid's grin is lop-sided now, he seems to enjoy it every time he's angry. It makes sense that he gets off to annoying people, very in character. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not my type," Hanbin coughs, choking in his spit as he hears Jiwon laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You look an awful lot like your uncle, back in 1667. He was probably your age then, too." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, Mr. Immortal Hybrid, you're definitely not my type too. I mean, you've seen how Jung Jaewoon looked right? Nowhere near like yours." Jiwon just scoffs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A pretty face won't get you anywhere, love." He's staring right into his eyes as he says it. Hanbin takes one gulp, and then he looks away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Something tells me you're lying." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"About what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"About me looking like Kim Taeri." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon wets his lips and nods, "Yeah, your eyes are different." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he wants him to clarify if it's the soulless kind of different or the one where you could see stars. But like his other wants, it gets lost deep in his heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's taller too. And less talkative," Jiwon adds. Hanbin squints at him and shakes his head. "We'll stop by at a hotel, if you don't mind." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I do mind, but I don't have a choice anyway," he rolls his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stretches and yawns after a while. The road isn't visible as they exit the borders, and Hanbin would rather hear Jiwon babble about all the centuries in which he had spent his life instead of waiting for a town with functional streetlights.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, you turned your golden boy into a hybrid yesterday, am I right?" He doesn't even tiptoe onto the iceberg, he dives in uncoventionally, but Jiwon's face wasn't breaking, eyes on the road and unwavered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was about time anyway. He always had a hard time transitioning from wolf to human after a full moon. It's the least I could do for him." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As far as Hanbin knows, part of a hybrid's biology is turning at will. The full moon doesn't affect them, and transitioning wouldn't be as bad as when you're a pure-blooded wolf. A fast process of bone-breaking and hair-shedding. Very painless and convenient.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hasn't encountered a wolf before. They prey on anyone so the witches take all the necessary precautions whenever the full moon hits its mark. He remembers sleeping in a bed soaked with wolfsbane tea, and how uncomfortable it felt on his skin yet when he hears a howl, he immediately shuts his eyes tightly, hoping it'll end soon. It’ll only be for one night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There are a handful of things and beings he was afraid of as a child, but it's mainly because he doesn't know how powerful he was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Witches aren't naturally ruthless, although they do make the worst enemy. There are only a few stories of witches and their wicked ways, because the rest were about how witches are the most moral supernatural who don’t prey on anyone else to survive. But Hanbin knows full well it's all for show. Their coven's priestess once had an </span>
  <em>
    <span>altercation</span>
  </em>
  <span> with an Alpha from a migrant nameless pack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t a popular one, but it was popular among witches his age.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At first they had come to an agreement that the said pack would protect them from other wolves during full moons, to keep the coven intact and to avoid all the mess between allies in both bayous. In exchange, the witches will release them from the curse. Of course, as powerful as the coven are, they cannot break a thousand-year old curse, they could only alter it. So, they just made it easy for them. Whenever it was time for them to turn into a werewolf, they would make them drink a tonic from various herbs mixed with a bunch of altering spells to liquify their bones as a human, allowing them to transition without pain. They also made them retain their consciousness so they would recognize witches and not tear them to pieces. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It went well for months. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until one night, someone discovered a witch's mauled body in the bayou, marked by a werewolf from the pack that was supposed to protect them. Witches don't take death very easily, adding to the fact that they're one of the few supernatural beings who age in human years. The burials are different when you're a witch who died at the hands of nature—natural causes, of terminal illness, or of old age. Their bodies are placed in a coffin full of flowers that bloom and surround the marble glass under a female family member’s touch. Everyone can visit and watch as the body gets sanctified, a process where a dead witch gives their </span>
  <em>
    <span>borrowed</span>
  </em>
  <span> body back to nature, on their way to find peace. The elder witches would circle around the body and say a little prayer so it’s guided and wouldn't get lost. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If it's an accident, the family of the deceased are meant to mourn privately, take care of the body however they want as long it is given back to nature in a week's time before sunset. It is said that if the body exceeds a week and still isn't at rest, the witch will never find peace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, witches that get murdered are never buried. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Witches that are never buried never find peace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some say the bodies are tied with a block of cement on their feet, thrown underwater so it wouldn't come up. They believe that witches who get killed are vengeful and see no reason as they tend to blame anyone for their death—witch or not, family or not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They roam mindlessly in the afterlife, trying to find peace… trying to find someone who could help them find peace. Wouldn't it be the only purpose of the dead? To rest?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There wasn't any known outrage at how the priestess handled the murder of a witch by the wolves she trusted. Still in their custody, she sealed the coven with a cloaked boundary spell, and no creature of the moon will be able to come out without spilling blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Come full moon and the wolves had turned, conscious still, and unbeknownst to them, a danger awaits in the border. One by one, they had crossed it in search of prey, and one by one they had gotten themselves killed. The whole pack of wolves… forgotten in today's time. No one was able to save themselves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stories say it was almost at mercy. Their death was quick and with ease. Only a snap of a neck and a sharp intake of breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had heard otherwise though… he believed that it was more brutal than that. After the wolves had tried to cross the border, upon reaching the boundary spell, their bodies underwent a process called reverse transition, which may sound similar from when they turn back to their human form after a full moon but it was more complex. From a wolf on all fours they lose fangs, their snout shortens, and each limb sprouts out of their legs, paw after paw. They could feel every little movement, every single detail that changes in their form. Their skin sheds and turns into flesh, and the puddles of blood in which their bodies bathe were refused to be seeped by nature… and so the witches wait until the rain comes to wash it all off. The whole coven smelled like slaughter and anguish. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their deaths do not end there, it extends to all the people they love, through different werewolves in different packs who have just a pinch of their blood running through their veins. It prevents them from creating a line of wolves with their gene, removing their bloodline, and erasing all traces of their existence on Earth. They were nameless before but now they're unknown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin knows every single detail of this story for sure… because the Priestess then was his mother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shifts in his seat and rests his back properly, trying his luck with raising his leg on the customized seat of the hybrid's car. He gets a light smack on the thigh and a side eye for it, no luck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, Junhoe seems to have developed a sire bond."  </span>
</p><p><span>Despite the werewolf indirectly admitting that he's quite </span><em><span>in</span></em> <em><span>love</span></em><span> with the hybrid, Hanbin still thinks the sire bond has something to do with it. He doesn't know if it's the same case with werewolves, but a family in a coven can be binded by the head of the house, in most cases it's the mother. It allows them to transfer energies in accurate wavelengths, to relinquish rights in terms of power. Of course when the head is in danger, the bond can be broken as to not affect the others. Although some may take the risk as it increases strength and energy. Hanbin didn't have a bond with his mother because he was born without the ability to have magic on his own. But he did remember feeling a little bit stronger when she was around. </span></p><p>
  <span>Jiwon snorts, shaking his head, "He broke the sire bond before he turned."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How sure are you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Very. Else it wouldn't have been just the two of us right now. He would've found a way to come. Anyway, Jinhwan's taking care of him now. He's quite a handful, that wolf."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe because you took him away from his pack?" Hanbin says accusingly and he steadies himself on his seat when Jiwon grits his teeth. He realized he should’ve been more careful with his words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's from </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> pack, witch."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin scoffs, finding the statement funny. "What? You call two wolves a pack now?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His smile dies down when Jiwon squints, veins a little visible under his eyes. "Junhoe doesn't have a family, just like you and I. Think that's enough for you to shut up?" He tilts his head passive-aggressively and Hanbin shuts his lips tight. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fine. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jiwon thinks of Junhoe as family then. How sweet. Imagine if he finds out Junhoe has </span>
  <em>
    <span>feelings</span>
  </em>
  <span> for him that are beyond platonic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, how did he break the sire bond?" He quotes the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>break</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the air, still unconvinced. Jiwon gave up trying to defend the wolf, sighing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Breaking his bones, just the usual. Except he doesn't really heal very easily and I refused to help him with that. I used to do that during his early years as a wolf until I realized my mistake. You see, if I happen to heal him after he comes back to his human form, he'll get immune to my blood and he'll recognize me as his savior. So every time, after he transitions, I deny him of that privilege. That way, he knows he owes me nothing." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was clear to Hanbin that Jiwon never really wanted a sire. For someone as powerful as him, he wonders why he's not building an army. It would've helped him a long time ago to find a roaming White Lotus witch. It would've lessened all his waiting. The hybrid seems to like working alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'd give him the benefit of the doubt that he doesn't want anyone other than him to get hurt but it'll be too kind of him so he shrugs the thought away. Jiwon had been around long enough, he's probably done unimaginable things to others. Hanbin would rather not know, he doesn't want them to cloud his judgment, which, to be honest, is already clouded as it is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon…" The hybrid was taken aback at his call, tensed shoulders and all. Hanbin waits for him to look in his direction. He was spared a glance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do wolves go in </span>
  <em>
    <span>heat?"</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon narrows his eyes at him, visibly taken aback, and Hanbin has to stop himself from laughing because it was a question he knows the answer very well to. He just wanted to see the hybrid's reaction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, so you've been on </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> side of the internet, eh?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What? It's funny. And you seem to know what I'm talking about so you've also been on </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> side of the internet."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon chuckles, pulling his lower lip between his teeth as he shakes his head. "You think I'm an omega, love?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin purses his lips, as if thinking. He smiles and says, "Yeah, I think so." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's very cute of you," Jiwon narrows his eyes. "My mother was an Alpha, in case you forgot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I didn't. What does that have to do with you being a modern-day omega who goes in heat and needs a dick to fill him up so he could shut up?" Hanbin cocks his head to the side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You sound very aggressive, right now. Are you projecting?" Jiwon teases, Hanbin scoffs. "Anyway, I basically got everything from her because I didn't have a father."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin tilts his head. "Again, what does your father being dead have to do with it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, I meant it in the most literal sense. My mother didn't have a spouse."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rises up at that. "Wait, what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She ate some fruit and got pregnant. Nobody knows how it was possible and that's how she became the Alpha of the pack. Everybody thought she was the moon's favorite or something," Jiwon shrugs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, you didn't think she lied about that?" And maybe he should've kept his mouth shut all the while because apparently, Jiwon doesn't take jokes about his mother very lightly and so the hybrid's smile was replaced by a scowl on his face that says, "My mother doesn't lie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stops asking him for minutes, hoping Jiwon doesn't hold a grudge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If she did, I wouldn't care. It's not even important," the hybrid adds, and he's calm now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How long has it been since your last keeper kill?" He changes the subject.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The last one was 1924."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does some quick mental maths, unconsciously gesturing with his hands. "96 years then?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Congratulations, you can subtract." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin rolls his eyes, "Have you ever… at least, tried to get to Jung Chanwoo?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A visible crease appears on Jiwon's forehead, and Hanbin thinks he looks pensive. He must've been flooded by the thoughts of his past. "What makes you think I just waited for you all those years? I don't lie idle waiting for miracles, love."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, so you've found a roaming White Lotus witch before?" Hanbin raises an eyebrow. Jiwon mirrors his expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"More like she found me." A smile paints the hybrid's face. Hanbin props his chin with his palm, leaning closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Tell me what happened." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He opens his ears up and listens. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jiwon's memory was consistently vivid. Although there are times when it fails him more than necessary, a blurred detail… a nameless face. He knows it's the result of spending most of his years daggered in a coffin instead of living through his pain. Some get scrapped altogether. Most of the time, even the most insignificant ones are recurring, and those that are important to him gets stuck at the back of his mind. He would know about a story of a drunkard's chest scar when he fought a bear, piece by piece as if he had memorized it. But he'd forget about his past lovers' favorite color, no matter how hard he tried to recall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There are significant twists and turns that he'll never forget though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like one fateful night in 1919, in the French Opera House of New Orleans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone had sat beside him in silence. The ring on his finger signaled him that it was a witch of his interest. And Jiwon’s interest was immediately piqued. He had looked and seen, from the side of her face, and the way she presented herself, the eagerness in her eyes. He heard how nervous she was, heart beating in frantic staccatos, like a time bomb ticking, and he had sensed the vervain hidden under one of the pearls of her necklace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Petite frame clad in a red French wool skirt and plaid silk vestee, with strands of blonde hair falling on the side of her flawless forehead, flushed face from the cold, pursed pink lips. She's wearing a common lace up boots, a velvet cloche hat sitting on top of her head. The brooch on her chest that she always wore gave her away, she was a White Lotus witch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They used to revel on their status instead of hiding behind a cloaked coven. Witches liked being recognized, they were known to flaunt their powers however they liked, wherever they were. One snap of a finger can send a being begging on their knees. Jiwon tries to avoid them when he doesn't need anything from them at all costs. He doesn't like kneeling down for anyone against his will.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been waiting for you," Jiwon doesn't turn his head to face her, focused on the retelling of Don Quichotte being performed in front. It was an all-time favorite and he hates wasting time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lights went out for a moment. Jiwon felt her fingertips skimming on his arm. She said, "I have what you're looking for."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't the first time they had seen each other. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Her name was Kim Hara, a witch he met in the French Quarter, drunk on Bourbon, a babbling mess, It was during the height of the axe man killings. Jiwon wasn't particularly thinking of anything, all he was sure of was that she knew exactly what she was doing when she pulled him into the dark side of the streets, in a narrow alleyway with a dim-lit streak, pushing him to the wall with her other hand planted on his chest. Eyes up to level with his, lips quivering in excitement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"To what do I owe this pleasure, lovely witch?" Jiwon asked, tentatively holding onto her waist and when she doesn't object, he holds her properly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not a roaming witch," She had cleared up beforehand. Of course, Jiwon thought. Because why would a roaming witch willingly present themself in front of him? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes cast downwards, as if memorizing his face. Jiwon hummed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cocked his head to the side, his smile unfaltering as he pulled her closer when the jazz music started. Contrary to the festive music, there was a serial killer walking free from the outskirts of town, sending letters of request, calling himself the</span>
  <em>
    <span> axe man </span>
  </em>
  <span>and murdering people left and right. Tonight, he asked the town to play jazz all night. He said he will roam the streets and spare those who have listened. Those who did not will have to suffer the consequences. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon didn't find it in himself to care. And to be honest, he would like to see the axe man try to kill him if he manages to capture him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," he whispered, breath ghosting on her cheeks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She must've been running away from something. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That's what he thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been looking for you," she whispered back, closing her eyes, waiting for him to do something, anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon lifted her chin up and leaned down, kissing her lips chastely and then speaking on the corner of her mouth. "So have I."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ground they were lying down on was cold, so was the empty streets, after their lustful tryst. Jiwon had covered her body with his coat and let her sleep on his chest. The jazz music had died down come midnight. Hara's fingers traveled  up to his neck, looking at his eyes in pure adoration, but he saw worry blooming in. "For a long time, I thought you were the axe man." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon chuckled lightly, playing with her hair. He wet his lips and said, "There are monsters far more evil than me, love."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's a mortal, Jiwon. And he's killing mortals too. What kind of monster kills his own kind?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted to laugh at how naive she sounded, but he kissed the crown of her head instead. That would be a topic for another day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hara had been sending him letters in the most old-fashioned way, flower-scented ones with a dried up stamp carried by a dove and sealed with a spell that only opens up to him. Jiwon was fascinated when he first received it. The very first one had included the lines:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I've been meaning to help you and I've been trying to get away. My coven had forbidden me to leave as it was a very dangerous time in New Orleans. Monsters roam the city, they say. I do not care. I, too, have lived with monsters my whole life. I have suffered enough.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But if you would allow me, Kim Jiwon-ssi… I would like to meet you someday. And if you would let me, too, I will help you kill a keeper. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Someone told me you needed a White Lotus witch, and I am one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>If you would be so kind to send me a letter back and consider my offer, I would appreciate it dearly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Please be careful out there.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't know how she plans to help him. But Jiwon wasn't one to deny a lovely lady. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You ask me something like that when you just offered to kill a keeper who happens to be a witch. Isn't that a little contradicting?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I am very aware that my help is limited only to my kind as there is no other way I could find where the female keeper hides, but you do know that I'd do anything for you, Jiwon-ah," She hid her face on the crook of his neck, soft lips trailing soft kisses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Get me Jung Chanwoo's blood," he demanded without discretion, and the witch had suddenly stopped, frozen in her place. "Could you do that?" He added. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll get it. I'll get it for you, Jiwon." She starts laughing in short breaths, kissing him again earnestly as if she was celebrating. "I love you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that's when Jiwon knew that she's not just there to help him. Kim Hara wasn't just a White Lotus witch who was willing. How could he miss it the first time he laid her eyes on her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had kept a love for him so deep, so forbidden that had driven her to insanity. She's </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking</span>
  </em>
  <span> obsessed. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you plan to get a hold of it, you have to marry me," she whispered and giggled right into his ears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The truth was, Jiwon didn't know what to do or what to say in that exact situation. He didn't know if Hara was lying. His senses had betrayed him, and he didn't know if it was all just a ploy for the witches to get to him and offer him in some kind of satanic ritual that they always do with vampires they've taken captive of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last thing Jiwon expected that night was for those words to be Kim Hara's last. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, what happened?" The witch beside him shifts in his seat once more, brows meeting in one line after listening to his story. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon shrugs and says, "Well, the French Opera House magically burned down to the ground. I survived because, as you may know, I can't be killed. And your dear crazy witch died along with Jung Chanwoo's blood, or whatever. I didn't even get to confirm if she was telling the truth or not." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you let it end? Just like that? Wow, you were one step closer," Hanbin </span>
  <em>
    <span>tsk</span>
  </em>
  <span>s</span>
  <span> in disbelief, shaking his head at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, first of all, I don't fuck, </span>
  <em>
    <span>figuratively,</span>
  </em>
  <span> with witches. They got all sorts of hexes and curses that I would rather stay away from than suffer half of the century with frogs coming out of my mouth. I tried to save the witch but she was already dead when I found her, completely burned too, by the way. Then she just dissolved into ashes, into thin air." He breathes out a sigh, and then opens his mouth again to add, "And do you know why I'd rather leave her that way? You know what she told me right after I fucked her in that alleyway in New Orleans? She said she'll chase me to the ends of the Earth and make sure I'll never be happy without her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you believed that?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No. But I did blame her for the death of someone dear to me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"None of your business." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin huffs. Jiwon smirks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's true. He blames Kim Hara for </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> death. But he also knows it was Kim Hara's way of </span>
  <em>
    <span>helping.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Although Jiwon didn't like it. Never did. Never will.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway, Kim Hara's death was the reason I was able to confirm Jung Chanwoo was one of yours. I had no idea why I needed a specific witch to find him but it made sense after that." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"By one of mine, you meant a White Lotus witch, right?" Hanbin clarifies. He agrees by raising his eyebrows up and down. "How?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Blood connection or something. My theory is that Jung Chanwoo was the cause of the Opera House fire. He found out his blood was taken by a witch of his own, tried to retrieve it, and thereby killing everyone in his way in the process. Insanity seems to run in your family, don't you think?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin rolls his eyes, scoffing, "Why are we even trusting your theory? For all I know, it could've been you who burned New Orleans down just so you could get ahold of Jung Chanwoo's blood without having to deal with some crazy witch who wants your crusty hand in marriage." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Touché,” He says, clicking his tongue, but he was filled with hopes then that he was to kill a keeper after years. And he trusted Kim Hara and held onto her promises. He searched for her body after the fire, he searched for his blood. And for years he thought she must've been lying to him… for years he thought he was deceived. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What's keeping him from believing it all the way was the nervous beats of Hara's heart when she sat beside him… and how her eyes screamed of help and desperation. How she seemed to know that she had been found, and that it'll be her last moments. Killed by her own kind. Except the axe man wasn't the villain in her story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why was the coven in New Orleans anyway?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For a White Lotus witch, you seem to not know many things about your ancestry," Jiwon snorts, shaking his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, they didn't like me so I didn't really care." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aww, how sad," the hybrid pouts, mocking him. "White Lotus witches exist everywhere, love. Your coven is only a part of it, and not even half. That's why I've scoured the world to find one. Turns out you're just around the corner," he winks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Countless times, he had felt Kim Hara's presence. From the way he would whisper right in his ears, a giggle, a cold kiss on the back of his neck. He knows she used to watch him in the early years where she'd spent wandering in the mortal world before being caged in a place where lost souls are kept, stuck in the afterlife, forbidden to find peace. And when he'd speak to the wind softly to tell her, </span>
  <em>
    <span>"I'm fine."</span>
  </em>
  <span> A light breeze would be sent back to him, brushing past his skin, as if to tell him, </span>
  <em>
    <span>"I know."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon withholds from Hanbin the information that after his failed attempt at killing Jung Chanwoo, a keeper presented itself in front of him five years later. That time, he succeeded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hanbin fiddles with the sapphire amulet hanging on his neck, revelling in the tingling feeling it sends on his fingertips and how he could personally feel the coven's energy looming around it. He wonders if he was really binded by the immortal power the coven provides, or if it was a dead White Lotus witch supplying him magic. Kim Taeri was killed, after all. He must've not yet found peace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's probably doing it to look out for Jiwon… his first love. Hanbin isn't sure if Jiwon knows there are people around him, dead or alive, who are willing to protect him no matter what. He doesn't question how it was possible, he just believed it to be. Jiwon might not look it but he's selfless… in some selfish ways. That must've been why.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hasn't stopped thinking about what the hybrid said. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Insanity seems to run in your family. </span>
  </em>
  <span>There must be some truth to it. The reason why his mother was demoted as the coven's Priestess was because she had gone insane, had seen hallucinations, had felt like she was running around in circles, unable to find her own ground. For years, she thought someone was after her, and she had fallen through the depths of irredeemable despair not even he could save her. How it started, he wasn't sure. Hanbin missed the signs too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a lot of talk about how she went crazy, it circulated shamelessly around the coven as if she doesn't exist anymore, not as their past Priestess anyway. Some say the hex she had given to the wolves from the nameless pack came back to bite her. Some say she had sold her soul in hopes of becoming more powerful. Some say she had a hard time accepting that her son was a Siphoner, and had lost hope of him being an honorable witch because he couldn't do his own magic. He didn't know what to believe, but he remembers praying it wasn’t the latter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin was too young to understand what was happening then, all he knew was that she fell asleep beside him one night and never woke up next morning. The funeral lasted for a week. The same witches who talked behind her back, the same ones who had waged to demote her, they were all there to pay their final respect. And though there were a lot of witches around him, Hanbin never felt so alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lights started illuminating the streets one by one just after they had crossed the old town's border. Hanbin can finally see clearly the outlines of tall trees lined up on each side of the roads, thin branches extending as if calling for their attention. Unlike before, vampires rarely consume human blood to the point of death. They lure mortals into the woods, feed on their necks just enough to sate their hunger, and then compel them to forget about it, and cover up their marks. That's at least moral for them and Hanbin doesn't question it, won't. Vampires' businesses aren't his and he'd rather mind his own instead of playing mortal hero and ask all the blood-seekers to suck on some blood bags rather than stick their fangs on flesh. The world is just a mere means of survival, it's all a matter of staying afloat. He understands that very well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Have you ever killed a mortal, Jiwon?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows it was a ridiculous question. It slipped out before he could even stop himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you seriously asking me that?" There's humor behind his voice, a perpetual smirk on his lips as his fingers unconsciously tap on the steering wheel. Hanbin bites on his lower lip and nods, looking away in embarrassment. "I don't know if you know this but in order for a werewolf to trigger their wolf gene, they have to kill someone. I happened to kill a mortal. And hey, listen love, I'm not a good one. That was the start of many and I used to enjoy it, the haunt, the faint smell of blood, the screams of help. It was part of my retaliation when my mother died."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin doesn't want to admit that he's trying to find something in Jiwon, a redeeming quality, his morality. He acknowledges that he's lived more than he died and maybe… if the circumstances were different… Jiwon would've been good. He would've been complete. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How does one turn into a wolf?" Hanbin asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kill someone, wait for the full moon to come, and then you wake up on all fours with a full-body fur, and an itch," Jiwon answers sarcastically, laughing when he punches his arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Were you there? When Junhoe first turned?" He stares at the side of his face and watches as his expression turns soft, with longing, and nostalgia. Hanbin wonders if he'll ever answer him truthfully, properly, in all seriousness, because he really wants to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I helped him through it. Caged him underground and watched him try to attack me all night behind bars. Pretty cute sight," Jiwon scrunches his nose and faces him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who did he kill?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was an accident. Some guy from his school was following him and he felt agitated, you know how wolves' aggression works. He tackled Junhoe on the ground and Junhoe hit his head. I had to go back to the crime scene and compel some witnesses, bury the body, file a missing case," Jiwon shrugs as if it was nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin thinks he must've seen something in Junhoe, a resonating feeling, or a reflection of his past self. Why else would he do all that for a wolf in transition that he barely knows?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And how does one turn into a hybrid?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm only entertaining your questions because I have nothing else to do." Jiwon rolls his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin's lips form a smile, "Right? Now answer me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid shakes his head, smiling too as he pushes a tongue in his cheek, but he answers and says, "Only werewolves can turn into a hybrid quite like me. They have to drink my blood, kill themselves, and then wake up as an immortal, free from the moon's curse, except they get the sun's curse. Which is why I had Jinhwan make Junhoe a daylight ring."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Have you tried to make one before? Besides Junhoe?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon doesn't answer for a moment. He assumes he really doesn't want to delve on the topic so when he says, "One time, yeah." Hanbin doesn't follow up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, they cannot be killed too?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When you don't rip their heart out, decapitate, or burn them, then no, they can't be killed." The hybrid beams. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about witches? I know when a witch drinks a vampire's blood and kills themself they would lose their connection to nature and become a vampire no less. What if it's a hybrid blood they drink? Would they retain their magic? Since, I don't know, werewolves are binded by the moon and moon is nature, or something?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're really smart, aren't you?" Jiwon chuckles. "Jinhwan had that theory too. He's yet to confirm it though, says he's still studying my blood." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The road seems even wider now, and he's never been anywhere farther away from Falconshore ever since. Hanbin wasn't really outdoorsy, he's never the adventurous type. He liked following rules, as a matter of fact he valued them. Why else would they exist if not for keeping him in place? He's still confused as to how he managed to convince himself that being with Jiwon and risking his life was a great idea. He feels lonely staring at the starless night from the car's window on the inside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence enveloped them as Hanbin stopped with his run of random questions. His mind wanders off to the possibilities of Jiwon creating a witch-vampire hybrid. When he was at the coven, he had skimmed through grimoires of old witches and he found an illustration of a witch in a white long tunic, a hand raised up to her chin's level and slender fingers holding a heart. There's blood dripping down her dress, veins under her eyes, and very prominent fangs. The words underneath say it was called a </span>
  <em>
    <span>heretic.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But there was nothing else to describe it and nothing else came after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he was to drink Jiwon's blood and die, wouldn't it be more probable for him to keep being a witch aside from turning into a vampire? He's a siphoner, and vampirism includes immortality, which means he'll be able to siphon off magic from his own body, from the supernatural blood running through his veins. It should be possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hugs himself when the cold gets unbearable, squeezing further on the seat to keep him warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon takes one glance at him, startled at the rumble of mess he was doing. He reaches for the glove box in front and places a blanket on his lap. Hanbin eyes him curiously, surprised at the sudden gesture. He stares at the blanket on his lap. It looks old but it was still soft to touch, Earth-colored with embroidered patterns of the people looking up at the moon, and when he traces the sides, the people turn into howling wolves, and when his fingers reach the end of the fabric, the wolves slowly fade into dust. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's a birth blanket," Jiwon mumbles, which he barely caught but he turns to face him anyway, as he wraps the wool around him to cover his body, draped on both of his shoulders. It feels soothingly warm. It smells like cedarwood rose, an old wine cellar… and Jiwon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wow, so it's like the same age as you?" He says through the fabric, hiding half of his face to stop his teeth from chattering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Woven by my mother before I was born so it's technically older." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin nods, amused, "What's the meaning of the patterns?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A wolf's life story," Jiwon peers at the fabric on top of him, and Hanbin suddenly feels conscious. He pulls it upwards and hums. "Starts when you're born, then you trigger the curse, then you become a wolf, and then years later you die. Werewolves have viking funerals, the reason why we turn into ash after death. Just like witches, they believed it was an act of giving back to nature. All that bullshit." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A wolf's funeral… would Jiwon ever want one? Considering he had lived for a thousand years, all those times, did he ever think about dying? Once he had managed to kill the last keeper, he would pass on the immortal stone to his mother. He would return to life as a wolf, and only a wolf he would be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What will be of him when he dies and his mother lives on? Hanbin focuses his eyes on the road. He refuses to ask these questions.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the last time before he falls asleep, he says, "What if your mother had found peace? Wouldn't that mean she cannot be resurrected? What if what you're doing, what you've done, from the past and until now… what if they're all in vain?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin doesn't get to see how Jiwon's throat tightens, how his heart clenched and ached because he's thought of it before. It had been one of his darkest moments. There's no way his mother had found peace… she was killed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it has been a long time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she had always been a woman who endlessly forgives. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think it's time for you to sleep. Good night and sweet dreams—" The car screeches into a halt, and not due to Jiwon stepping on the brake but with Hanbin holding onto his amulet and physically stopping it with his mind when he saw a woman running in front of them. His eyes are closed and there are bumps and sounds of crashing on the windshield. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first thing he asked was, "Jiwon, did we kill someone?" wide-eyed in shock and the hybrid beside him curses, removing his seatbelt and then opening the door to check. Hanbin scrambles to follow him, wrapping the blanket around his neck to act as a scarf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The road was empty when they got out, and Jiwon had gone an </span>
  <em>
    <span>extra</span>
  </em>
  <span> mile to check under and behind but there was none. His hood was spotless too and there were no signs of dents caused by an accident. Hanbin was certain he had seen someone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You've got to be kidding me," Jiwon crosses his arms, leaning on the hood of his car with his head tilted to the side as his eyes rake him down. "Care to explain what that was about, witch?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I saw a woman, I swear!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah? And where is the woman?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't fucking know," Hanbin looks around in hopes of finding her. "You have to believe me, you almost killed her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon pretends to be taken aback at the accusation, raising both of his hands in surrender. There's a mocking grin on his face and Hanbin glares at him because he thinks he's delusional. Maybe sooner or later Jiwon will say, </span>
  <em>
    <span>"Insanity does run in your kind."</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Hanbin would not have it because he swears he saw someone, something. His instincts wouldn't fail him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon…" It wasn't from him. No, he didn't just call Jiwon's name. It came from a voice so sweet, so soft, as if it was meant for someone dear, someone loved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a woman on the far end of the road, in a long white dress, standing still as the wind blows harder each time she comes closer. Hanbin only noticed it then, and the next thing he knows is that she's already running in front of them at the speed of light, in front of Jiwon… to Jiwon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A moment of recognition, shock painting his face. Two pairs of lips clashing initiated by the woman who's holding Jiwon's cheek on her palm, lightly as if he was fragile. Jiwon's suspended arms found her waist, tightening bit by bit and Hanbin sees him close his eyes as he claims her lips in another searing kiss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a glint of sparkle in his eyes when they part, and he's staring at her with confusion, and longing, and it's the first time Hanbin had seen him look so </span>
  <em>
    <span>vulnerable. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Freya."</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <ol>
  <li>
<a id="note1" name="note1"></a>Supernatural equivalent of going to heaven. I don't think it was necessary to explain this but it's a big deal for witches because they consider souls as forces too. 
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/68555718#back1"> [return to text]</a></sup>
</li>
</ol>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. the girl with the purple ribbon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>it's a little early lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Once there was a girl who had a pretty purple ribbon wrapped around her neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She said it was something she was born with. She was told never to remove nor talk about it unless the perfect time comes around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl met a boy. He got curious. She only told him she will show what's underneath if they get to know each other more, and nothing else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As years went by, the boy found himself falling in love—madly, deeply in love that he had forgotten about the ribbon around her neck. He thought it didn't matter anymore. He was willing to let it go for the sake of his love for her. Whatever it was, she'll be ready to show it, to tell what it was, and he'll look, he'll listen. But for now, he'll just love her forever and wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so they love through years and years. They got married and promised to be by each other's side in sickness and in health. Their love bore a child, a beautiful lad with bright eyes. She had never felt overflowing happiness until then. She vowed to protect him, her husband, and their little one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl falls ill soon after, recalling the moments they have spent together, in silence, in loneliness, in passionate love, and understanding. She grew old and she was dying. She's on her death bed when she says, "Do you want to know why I wear a ribbon around my neck all the time?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't understand what it was that made him nod, eyes trained on the silky, royal fabric that he was never allowed to touch, nor ask questions about. She lifts her frail hand and puts it over her neck, slowly pulling the tangled ribbon around as if unraveling what's underneath, untying it once and for all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he had no time to scream when her head fell <a id="back1" name="back1"></a><a id="back1" name="back1"></a>off.<a href="#note1"><sup>1</sup> </a></span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The first time Jiwon laid his eyes on her was a night in 1924, a thousand miles away from the city that care forgot. After a year-long slumber in the marble coffin, it was nothing new. He was used to moving from city to city, from country to country, jumping from year to year because he had chosen to go on an indefinite slumber instead of wasting his time trying to live. Selene had woken him up, and he had hoped for once that it'll be a new life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He picked a well-groomed suit, three pieces of neat fabric worth an elitist's meal. Dark blue and velvet red, with gold swirls in a rhythmic pattern that covers the expanse of his broad back. Wherever he goes, he'd fit right in. It was one of his abundant charms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had seen her in the corner of one of his favorite speakeasy in Chicago, just a few blocks away from the apartment he was temporarily situated in. She stood out in front of a crowd, a gorgeous woman in the dead of night. She made it seem like everything around is wonderful. But he knew full well she was always meant to be seen, because who could ever miss such beauty? Fierce almond eyes which seem to reflect glimmering pearls in both pairs, except they were an expensive color of jade. Fair skin that appears to shine moonlight-bright, heart-shaped lips as red as blood. She wears a flimsy sequined dress with silver fringes acting like teardrops and stopping just above her knees, the fabric hugging her petite, pear-shaped frame perfectly. Wide hips, prominent thighs, slender waist. Her hair was the color of champagne in long ringlet curls, gathered on one side of her shoulder and topped with a black jeweled flapper band. She's holding a long studded stem cigarette, hands covered in a black opera gloves up to her elbows. A fur shoulder wrap sitting on her lap, pearl-drop earrings, and a silk purple ribbon wrapped daintily around her neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon supposes it was a different time, hence falling in love was a different experience too. Deep down in his heart, he was certain it was love at first sight. Who could resist such tempting eyes, seen though lingering glances thrown in his direction? Who could deny such inviting lips, ghosting upon his cheek, up on his ear to whisper a name that would later be the cause of his sweet dreams, and nightmares alike? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've never seen you here before," she claims after sauntering closer. Every step she took was enough to make him out of breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon smiles after taking a sip on the cosmo in one of his hands. She was mesmerizing, unlike everyone he had ever seen, and he felt bare every time she would do so much as stare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I travel frequently. But I guess I'll be staying here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She purses her lips and nods, still acting mysterious. Jiwon wants to gawk at every single thing she does. With the way she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear or when she offers her hand and asks him to dance. His palm on her waist was placed perfectly, carefully, and she giggled and praised him for being such a gentleman. Albeit not offering his hand first. Jiwon tells her he was too in awe of her radiant beauty that he had forgotten how to speak. Her only answer was a giggle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Freya Deveraux," she whispers in his ear, enough to send shivers down his spine. She adds that it was her name, and in turn asks what his was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon leans down too, whispering his own, "Kim Jiwon. It's a pleasure to meet you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You've got quite the accent, mister. Are you sure you weren't born in the windy city?" She teases, Jiwon just shrugs, earning a laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The jazz music playing seemed to be their cue to leave the place, hanging around at the back alley of a restaurant near the speakeasy. He offers her a coat and she politely declines, wrapping a fox fur around her shoulders. They share a cigarette. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your family lives here?" He asks, leaning one foot on the wall and staring at the orange street lights partly illuminating the alley in which they were in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya shakes her head, puffing out smoke as her mouth forms an </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span> and then smiling. Jiwon wonders if she tastes just as how she looks, whatever that means is left to his imagination. "I mostly travel too. But I think I'll be staying here… that is, if you stay." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon chuckles, "You barely even know me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, clearly I know your name," she says in full confidence, looking straight into his eyes. Jiwon stares back, jade to brown. It settles down for a moment and he squints when she consciously touches the purple ribbon on her neck, tied meticulously, not too tight and not too loose. Just enough to leave anyone wondering. "Do you like it?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It suits you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you." She pulls her hand away, hugging herself. "I never take it off." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cocks a brow at that. Curiously, he pries, "Was it given by someone special to you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hmm, no. Maybe I just liked it too much. Does it bother you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head immediately, "Not at all."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My… my previous spouse used to ask me about it a lot. I'm not really allowed to talk about it but he kept on pestering me until curiosity got the best of him. I was sleeping one night when he tried to untie the ribbon on my neck. Luckily, I caught him. I ran away as far as I could out of fright, and I never looked back. It was years ago. I was young. Never really trusted anyone since then." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you know what will happen when the ribbon gets untied?" Jiwon assumes that it might be sealed with a spell. Yet he was still unsure if Freya was a human or a witch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't talk about it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Jiwon easily understood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, let's talk about something else."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For whatever it was, he knows Freya will say it in time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Your ex is in that room, what the fuck???" He says in a low tone, hysterical and with exaggerated gestures, pointing at the guest room from where they were at. Jiwon looked like he couldn't believe it either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How is that even possible?" The hybrid says absently, not minding what he just said, not even alarmed, at least not in the same way as he was. However, he seems to be in a turmoil of his own. "If she didn't die that day, she would've definitely turned back to her original form. But she looks exactly the same?" And now, he's talking to himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin rolls his eyes, arms crossed as the both of them try to keep their conversation down. He doesn't know a thing about what's happening. Just those that were told to him about her by both Jinhwan and Jiwon before. And as it turns out, the second keeper that the hybrid in front of him had killed was the same woman they met a while ago. The one in the guest room. Freya Deveraux, who also happens to be Jiwon's past lover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe she turned into a vampire?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon has his brows furrowed when he shakes his head, "No, 'cause then you would've been able to smell her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, you're right." Hanbin agrees, thinking again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't sense anything when he met the woman. He would've easily identified what she was if she was a vampire, werewolf, or a witch. It was always only limited to those three. Yet he sensed nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were in the living room talking when the door to their left opened up, revealing the woman in question wearing one of the silky nightgowns provided by the fancy hotel they have managed to book, all thanks to Jiwon's compulsion trick. She didn't have anything with her. Just the outdated clothes she was wearing before they found her. Or before </span>
  <em>
    <span>she </span>
  </em>
  <span>found them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin gives her a once over. Her hair was long and white, but it doesn't make her look old, instead it makes her look ethereal. It stops to her waist and she combs it with her fingers as she stares at them through her jade, almond-shaped eyes. She's gorgeous. No wonder Jiwon had fallen for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uh, hi?" He greets her first, raising his hand to wave a little. Jiwon was beside him and still very much taken aback. He elbows him and the hybrid clears his throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Freya," Hanbin rolls his eyes at that. He feels like he's introducing two people to each other when in fact, he's the one that needs some introduction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's a pleasure to see you again, Jiwon," she smiles, then turns to face him. "I don't suppose we know each other?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, I'm Kim Hanbin. Just some witch stringing along. Don't mind me," he returns her smile and she nods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My name is Freya Deveraux. I'm Jiwon's… acquaintance."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been told." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon clears his throat again. They both look at him. He's got this expression in his eyes that Hanbin couldn't fathom. He knows he should probably excuse himself and let them talk to each other alone but he couldn't help it, he somehow wants to be involved. There's something in him that feels like he shouldn't leave them unsupervised. Unless of course if any of them wants him to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What happened, Freya? You were dead. And–well, you look exactly the same as when I first met you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So are you," she replies, walking closer. Jiwon takes a step back. Hanbin frowns. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What's his problem?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know aging wasn't a case for me. I'm a hybrid. But you…" he pauses, puzzled eyes raking the woman down like he's trying to figure her out. "You didn't change one bit."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I lost my immortal side when you took my stone, I know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya didn't seem to mind that Jiwon's wary of her. Instead she gently places both of her hands on Jiwon's arms, staring at him longingly. Like how one would look at the love of their life. "But I was stuck in 1924, Jiwon." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid narrows his eyes, "What? How?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When I came back to life in my original form, I was sent away with a sleeping spell, sealed in a coffin. Everything stopped for me and I didn't understand why but I was just awoken on the night of yesterday." She holds Jiwon's face in her palm. "But now, I do. I realized why. I came back to be with you." And she leans closer to kiss his lips chastely, smiling after they part.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin sees conflict in Jiwon's eyes. It seems like the hybrid couldn't believe what was happening, what the woman in front of him just said. Yet he couldn't bring himself to tell her that it's impossible because that would mean he's invalidating whatever shit she went through. Hanbin notices aversion, wanting to get away but having no idea how to escape. He doesn't have a heightened hearing but he could've sworn he heard Jiwon's rapid heartbeats.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The ribbon on your neck…" Hanbin squints his eyes, confused as to what they were talking about. Freya wasn't wearing any ribbon anywhere, not even on her neck for that matter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman shakes her head, "It's gone, Jiwon. I don't have that curse anymore. I'm free." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stashes the vague information at the back of his mind and tries to remember to pry it out of Jiwon later. When they're alone, if ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, like clockwork, the hybrid pulls him to his side, closer, and then entwines their fingers. Hanbin was, to say the least, appalled. Especially when the much, much older man starts saying, "I don't think you were awoken for the purpose of meeting me again, Freya. You see, I already got a lover right there." He lifts both of their entangled hands and places a kiss on his knuckles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If there was one thing Hanbin regrets, is that when he looked for the woman's reaction, he felt the need to run for his life. His tongue tastes like bile and he wants to throw up. Freya's going  to be onto him next. One or another, he will have to convince Jiwon to take it back and tell her it was only a lie. The last thing he wants is to be killed early on by a heartbroken woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She's not looking any pleasant now. It's something Hanbin thinks is what nightmares are made of. Bloody red eyes, face elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, long scaly wings bursting from her shoulders. She's turning into another form of monster that he had never seen before in his life. A lot more different than vampires or werewolves. A lot more frightening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finds himself gripping on Jiwon's hand tighter. If he's already done for after this, he's going to take the hybrid to hell with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jiwon felt consumed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was madly, deeply, furiously in love with Freya that he thinks there was nothing that could save him anymore. He's stuck running in circles on a time loop where she's in full control. He couldn't seek help even if he wanted to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made him feel all sorts of things in all its extremities. And strange as it seems, Jiwon knew he liked every bit of it. The high, the thrill. Freya indulged him in more ways than one, he wasn't going to deny himself happiness in all forms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're a keeper." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finds out about it after a day's haunt. Jiwon never really liked feasting on helpless mortals. He robbed hospitals for blood bags, he preyed on forest animals. Freya changed that. She taught him to enjoy drinking from flesh once or twice, to bask in unaldurated glory, wallowing in the overwhelming rush of blood satiating both thirst and hunger. There was always a different kind of excitement that comes from being superior and exercising that power. The face of a meek prey, begging for their life—dilated, unfocused eyes wanting to get out. Heart beating hastily in snappy ticks. The agonized scream of help and the realization that no one would ever hear. Then he'd sink his fangs on their necks and wait for the eyes to stop blinking, the heartbeat coming to a halt, for death to finally end their suffering. There's no voice that comes after, only the smell of leaking blood. He lets them on the ground, cold and lifeless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On most days, he'd go on a spiral of guilt. He sees the color of blood tainting his palm, decapitated heads hanging on his shoulders. He's stepping on the hearts he had ripped out all those years, they keep piling up until there is nothing to step on and he's suddenly being swallowed. He drowns. And somehow, Jiwon always sees Freya pulling him out of his misery, kissing him, embracing him like he had done nothing wrong. She'd say, "It was for survival. They'll get the next chance to kill you if you hadn't already done them in." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he'll believe her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He believes everything she says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't know why it took him so long to realize Freya was a keeper. He knows she's a veela. She had told him that beforehand. Like any other keeper aside from him—Im Nayeon and Jung Chanwoo, he dreamt about Freya's life prior to Selene giving her a fragment of the immortal stone. She lived in a village called </span>
  <em>
    <span>Adelaide,</span>
  </em>
  <span> where no man exists and women reigned for years. Half human, half bird. But Freya was born a little different, unlike the rest of them. She took on a human form, and could only transform as a creature of the wind on her will. The women in their village were envious, they have managed to live equally and here she was, a woman of privilege. They formed a liege to capture and kill her once and for all, because she was ruining the balance. Just like him, she was considered an abomination because she was different. She had managed to escape, pleading help to the Goddess of the Moon. Selene had come down and blessed her with a gift and a curse. Immortality. The Goddess had given her a fragment of the stone to keep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I am," she answers calmly, fingers curling on his hair as he wraps his arm around her waist, bare on the bed post-coitus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why didn't you tell me?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why didn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> tell me?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon doesn't answer. Freya hums. Just as she thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm willing to give my life away for you, Jiwon. Have I told you that before?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not after your stone," he says bravely, lifting his head up to face her. He was telling the truth. Being with Freya made him forget about what he was after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you?" She smiles. "You're willing to waste all those years looking for keepers to kill just so you could spend an eternity with me?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon nods. He is. He could give up trying to resurrect his mother if it meant Freya would get to live with him for the rest of his damned life. "I don't think I've ever been truly happy until I met you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya tilts his head and claims his lips, kissing him slowly, and then diving in deeper as if it would be the last kiss they'll share in that lifetime. "That's exactly why, Jiwon. It's not real." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What are you saying?" But before he could get an answer, she lifts herself up and straddles him, pinning him down on the bed, and spurring him into another passionate kiss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Love me. Just love me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does. He did. Whether it was true or not, he knows somewhere at the back of his subconscious, Freya had always been there to ignite a fire inside of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon didn't really care if he was being deceived. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He just wanted to feel something other than rage and revenge. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Chicago wasn't called the windy city for no reason. Although he paid it no mind, Jiwon had felt a strange kind of chill that night of December 1924. They were back to where it all began, in another part of town with different identities. Heavy rain poured outside the window of the apartment he was staying in, the droplets are too loud, cascading down on top of the roof from the balcony. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it wasn't the smell of the soaked road after a sunny day that woke him up. It was the shilling screech of a woman, a voice he knows full well, like the veins on the back of his hand, something he would recognize from miles away and yet it was so near, so deafening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya was clear when she claimed that she'll give him her stone no matter what. When she dies and comes back to life in her original form, she had promised to come looking for him, to be with him again. She will wait for Jiwon to collect all the fragments, and then give his own stone up to bring his mother back to life. They'll spend whatever's left for them in time. They'll grow old together and live a peaceful life. That was her dream and Jiwon found himself wanting to fulfill it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he never expected it to be so soon. He loved Freya. He loved her more than he, himself, could ever imagine. He was buying his time. He couldn't kill her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he opens his eyes, he finds her struggling to break herself free, feet off the ground, holding her neck as if some invisible force was strangling her. Jiwon stands up and shouts. He tried to pull her down but it was of no use. She's stuck and she's stronger. There are tears streaming down his cheeks as he watches her gasp for air, screaming her name when he realizes she's going to die in front of him and he wouldn't be able to stop it. Freya's fingers found the end of the purple ribbon tied around her neck. She pulls it without much force, like she has given up and she's been wanting for it to end, untangling, unbinding… the screeching stops and Freya's dead body falls on the floor with a loud thud. Jiwon's stands frozen in his place, watching as her head rolls towards him and stops on his feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fragment of the immortal stone sitting on her tongue. The color was Jade like her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The situation would look very ridiculous from an outsider's point of view. Thank God, there weren't any. Hanbin would rather be swallowed by the current absurdity happening in front of him than have witnesses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He and Jiwon were hiding behind a couch. Freya was wailing in the living room in her half-human, half-bird form that scared him to death the first time he had seen her </span>
  <em>
    <span>transform</span>
  </em>
  <span> in front of him. Fortunately, the room was soundproof. Unfortunately, they were forced to listen and wait it out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You didn't tell me your ex is the freaking Dodo bird???" He shouts in Jiwon's direction, who was quite frankly just beside him, but he was so shocked that he couldn't really control his rage. They were both covering their ears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's not a Dodo bird, you idiot. She was a veela and I presume this is her original form as a harpy or whatever. I honestly couldn't keep up with her many stunts." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why the hell did you even get in bed with an unhinged shapeshifter ladybird? And why drag me??"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was 1924, love. My dick has needs." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin glares at him, "Well, look at the consequences of the actions of your dick now." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What should we do?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The fuck you mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>we?</span>
  </em>
  <span> You fix this. Tell her it's a joke, for Christ's sake." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Jiwon's turn to glare at him. He thought he'd force him to do something but instead, the hybrid stood up, threading towards the crying harpy who wouldn't come down. When she sees Jiwon on her way, the wails stop. She's back to her senses in seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Freya, shhh," he carefully places his hands on top of her feathers, comforting her awkwardly as if they weren't past lovers. She gawks one more time before she's slowly turning back to her human form, back to the beautiful woman in silk, with long blonde hair and gorgeous jade eyes. She wraps her arms around Jiwon and sobs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You cannot fool me. I know your heart." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin almost scoffs at the dramatics. He averts his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, it's been 96 years, Freya. You don't expect me to love you still right? It was… it was a different time," Jiwon says, hugging her back loosely. He sends a signal to Hanbin to wait upstairs but Hanbin stays on his spot, crossing his arms and raising a brow. He's not about to obey him now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you said, through decades and years, you'll love me still," she lifts her head to meet his eyes. Jiwon wipes her tears with his thumbs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sometimes, people say things that they don't really mean in the spur of the moment. You died in front of me, it took me two decades to recover. Maybe even more. I spent years desiccating in a coffin and you know what place I always go to? It's the speakeasy where we first met. I tried turning off the switch in my brain, all my emotions, going on a killing spree, but you know what memory brings me back to consciousness? It's the memory of you," he plants a kiss on the crown of her head and Hanbin sees that it's as sincere as what he's telling her. "But seeing you here, in front of me… I feel like I only held on to your memories because those were one of the times where I was happy. These past few years, I thought I wouldn't make it. I thought I'd never be happy again but I've been so even without your presence." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm yours, Jiwon. I will always be yours. As much as I want you to stay with me and our child, your heart says otherwise." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin suddenly halts from his pacing, unsure if he heard clearly what she just said. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No, it can't  be.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The shock was evident in Jiwon's expression too, his mouth hanging open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you say? What do you mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>our child?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya wipes the tears brimming on her eyes, sniffling. She tells him, "I'm pregnant, Jiwon. It stayed with me through the sleeping spell and until now."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where is she?" Hanbin covers his mouth as he yawns. Jiwon requested a moment with him, knocking on the door to his room and then sitting on his bed, dazed, and confused. It's the first time he's seeing him noticeably unguarded and Hanbin wants to comfort him but he's not so sure how. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two unexpected news had been dropped on him like bombs, that being his keeper of an ex magically woke up from a sleeping spell, looking exactly like how she did almost a hundred years ago, and then came searching for him first thing, and not to forget the fact that the said ex in question was carrying a possible heir apparent to some technically crusty old, but young-looking vampire hybrid immortal keeper? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's asleep," Jiwon answers in a low voice, as if Freya would hear him if he talks audibly enough. Hanbin rolls on his back and then sits up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is she really pregnant?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There's this, uh, heartbeat I felt when she let me touch her stomach. It's different from hers, it's faint but it's there," he says almost noncommittally, as if he couldn't believe it himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How is that possible?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know, witch," he brushes his hair with his fingers, rolling up the sleeves of his white Henley shirt up to his elbows frustratingly. Hanbin places his hand on his shoulder, out of instinct. Or because he really felt like so. "It's impossible. Vampires can't procreate. We're basically undead." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think, Jiwon, that nothing is quite impossible with your situation. I've heard of stories about witches transferring fetuses from womb to womb when a mother is dying, just to save the baby," and he knows he wasn't helping in the very least but the hybrid needs to know that there are certain things that could happen beyond normalcy. One of which could be a possible vampire procreation from many years ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, she didn't transfer anyone's baby. She carried one, my–our child, for almost a hundred years deep in a sleeping spell. Time stopped for her… for them." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm saying she might've done something similar. She knew she was pregnant and she did everything to save herself and your child the same time she was sent away to sleep." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's not a witch," Jiwon reasons, turning to face him and Hanbin could see clearly how this particular thing stressed him out almost instantly. He'd only seen him calm and collected in the past few days but this time the hybrid was emitting a scent that's quite strong, something similar to that when a wolf senses danger. Jiwon's on flight mode. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's easy to contact a witch to do it," he shrugs, moving closer. His hand slips until it reaches the back of Jiwon's palm, cold but soft. He rubs the veins with his thumbs. "I'm curious about </span>
  <em>
    <span>how</span>
  </em>
  <span> she got pregnant."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't believe her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You said you heard a heartbeat." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon sighs, retracting his hand from Hanbin's barely-there touch to scrub his face in annoyance. "God, this has to be some kind of fucking joke." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" He snaps. Hanbin flinches. The look on the hybrid's face softens and he runs a tongue along his lips nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think it might be because of your wolf side." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you mean?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> a vampire. You're a wolf. And Freya's not just someone either. She was handpicked by the Goddess herself. It's complicated but it's the way things are with you guys." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hybrid then places his hands on both of his shoulders, as if he was holding onto him for dear life. It's tight and restricting but he understands. He's on edge. "You have to help me, witch." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"W-what for?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I might have to kill her this time. For good." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was the very first time too, that he had ever felt scared of what Jiwon truly is, of what miles he's willing to go just to do what he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do. A monster who learned to care for no one after he has been failed time and time again. His eyebrows are knitted when he looks at him, shrugging off his hands on his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you hearing yourself right now?" He emphasizes each word but stays sounding low, to avoid waking up the woman in the other room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you suppose I do? You don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> her. She's vicious. You'd think by her looks, she's harmless but that's exactly what she wants you to believe. She… she made me do things that still haunt me to this day," Jiwon talks in erratic pauses and Hanbin doesn't know if he wants to believe in him or not. But when push comes to shove, It'll always be Jiwon he'll trust. He's got no other choice anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved</span>
  </em>
  <span> her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't understand." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then make me understand, Jiwon. I want to understand." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had probably lost count of how many times he heard the hybrid sigh. But he listens carefully as to what he was to say. It's how he could help. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's a veela and she charms men to do her bidding. At first I thought I really loved her because I couldn't get her out of my head. She's there when I close my eyes and too when I open them. I guess it was some kind of curse. Her memories had me hooked, they would bring me back to life, snap me to my senses, and I thought I owed it all to her. She turned me into a monster. She indulged me in tearing human flesh apart, told me to enjoy the haunt, and watched me succumb to temptation as I do everything she asked me. I realized all these when it was the thought of her that kept me up… when I had taken care of Junhoe. When the idea of him going through what I've been through, I realized it wasn't love. That she found me in my weakest and made me feel like she was the one to toughen me up. That if I was to tell Junhoe to tear on human flesh and he would cry out a no, I wouldn't force it on him. Unlike what Freya did to me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Have you ever wanted a family of your own, Jiwon? Have you thought about it, raising your child? Living peacefully?" Hanbin knows that Jiwon had suffered. He had just been told how his life was ruined by the woman who showed him what he thought was love and whom he loved in return. He knows how Freya died in front of him, how it was her head that needed to be removed in order for him to get a hold of her stone. The Goddess sealed it in a spell, behind a gorgeous purple ribbon wrapped around her neck. She couldn't talk about it, she would never tell. But despite all that, he thinks there's no point in dwelling with what happened in the past. A child's life will be in danger if he doesn't say the right words to the conflicted hybrid acting out on primal instincts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Stop—stop trying to get in my head!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Give it a chance." He focuses on his glazed eyes—looking like a tear wants to escape but the heavens had forbidden him to feel vulnerable again—as if he was compelling him when he doesn't have the ability to. He touches the sapphire stone dangling on his neck and holds it in between his fingers, calming the hybrid down with magic. Or at least hoping he would.  "It's your child, Jiwon. Yours." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He must've managed to convince him. There's a glint in his eyes that's different from the usual brown, and sometimes the gold that's only there when he's angry or after a full moon. It's a darker black, and more hostile, but Jiwon nods almost robotically. Hanbin wasn't sure what it was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a minute, it's like the hybrid has been sired to him. A taste of compulsion that only he can do. He wonders if he'll start obeying what he asks or if it was a momentary relapse. But he hopes the hybrid would snap out of it and just consider his plea. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's awake," Jiwon whispers, suddenly alerted. His eyes are brown again, expression hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's gone at a speed of light. There's a quick breeze that follows and he hugs himself through the night, shivering from the cold. He promises to keep an eye on Freya. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He won't let her hurt him this time. Not on his watch. Whatever it takes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There isn't an ounce of regret he feels when he made the decision to come with the hybrid. But as he was checking his bag filled with weapons—the gun Junhoe had given him, the containers with bullets soaked in vervain, and the vials of Jiwon's blood he stole in the storage room back in the Falconshore mansion, he wondered what the hell will happen to them now? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He examines the gun on his hand, nothing like the ordinary, definitely heavier. How would they be able to continue with their plan now that Freya has come back? He was sure it would affect Jiwon. It's not everyday a lover comes back to life. On top of that, she claims to be pregnant with their child. Considering how Jiwon reacted last night, they will probably either be stuck somewhere for nine months until she gives birth or yet bloodbath. Both options don't sit right with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes had said, </span>
  <em>
    <span>"I'll take my child and kill the woman."</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hanbin doesn't really know what to make of it. He could be wrong but it seemed final. There's nothing that could stop him if ever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gun was pointed at a glass of water sitting on the coffee table in the living room. The suite was soundproof, at least to human hearing. His grip was firm when he pulled the trigger. There was no sound. He missed and hit the vase instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not familiar with this weapon, aren't you?" Freya sits beside him, wearing a silk purple nightgown, long hair in a French braid and a distant smile. Hanbin can sense that she doesn't like him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not really," he answers, carefully placing the gun on his lap. Freya extends her hand, reaching for it and he gives it to her without much fuss, nervous of what she's going to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman traces the protruded initials on the grip of the gun, down on the left, something he, too, had noticed before but never really gotten to ask Jiwon about. Hanbin watches her. "My husband mass produced a special type of firearm in the 20s. He called it the </span>
  <em>
    <span>vampire repellent,</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he found out I was living with Jiwon. I left him years prior because he tried to kill me."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>F.D.,</span>
  </em>
  <span> her initials. He scans the other weapons and finds out that they have the same inscribed letters. Jiwon must've gotten a hold of it for safe-keeping, or some kind of remembrance. He doesn't really fully understand what goes on in the hybrid's mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He thought Jiwon was an ordinary vampire, proving it when he offered him a drink spiked with vervain once, and Jiwon had unknowingly drank it. He gathered the villagers of Illinois, screaming in terror as he claims to have seen a monster with his own eyes. Jiwon told me to run away and he will follow. I told him to kill them all instead." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin narrows his eyes. "Those humans… you told him to kill them?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya nods with pride, pursing her lips. "It was only fair, else they would've killed him." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You forgot Jiwon couldn't be killed!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She laughs wickedly, thinking it was ridiculous of him to say so. "I did not care about Jiwon one bit. I was protecting myself," she stands up, pointing the gun at him with ease and a comfortable grip, like it belongs to her. "It was fun having an immortal worship you to death. I watched as love fades out of his eyes, every time I tell him what to do, it would be replaced with guilt and fear but he would do it according to my will, still. He'd always listen to me, because he loved me. I had him wrapped around my fingers. He never once asked about my life, the ribbon on my neck… he was content with me, loving me, serving me. Until it was time for me to die." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya saunters closer to him. He looks at him with such disdain and she seems to have no remorse of what she's done. As if she had sold her soul. "It started again last night. Thanks to your perseverance," she laughs again. "I'll make Jiwon bend down to my will. I'll let him believe he can have an heir and take it away, that he can kill me after. And then he'll continue what he was set to do, but instead of bringing back his dead mother, he'll give the stone to me," she tilts her head and rubs the muzzle of the gun on her stomach, smirking. Hanbin holds his breath. He's got millions of questions to ask but he'd rather keep silent and avoid riling up the woman in front of him. "All with the help of my empty womb." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last laugh she lets out echoes in his head over and over again. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon has yet to wake up. Hanbin knows it was Freya's fault. She must've gotten to his mind already. How would he be able to tell Jiwon that she's going to put a stop to all his plans? That she wasn't really pregnant, and she's only using him to take the immortal stone all to herself? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He should've listened to him when he said he'll kill her last night. He should've believed in him when his eyes told him to expect the worst when it comes to Freya. But instead he calmed him down and made him change his mind. So now he's somewhere trapped in the depths of his brain while Freya controls him through another false idea of love and affection. How vulnerable must Jiwon be to succumb to all of it again? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door to his right opens and reveals the hybrid, walking in staggering steps. Hanbin tries to meet him halfway. He senses that something was wrong with him. He smells nothing like the usual citrus scent, the one that reminds him of the farmlands, and the sun, albeit being a creature of the moon. He smells like he's been deprived of life, dark and brooding, with a bitter aftertaste. His mind scrambles to think of a solution right away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his fingers grazed Jiwon's arm, he felt a surge of magic traveling from the hybrid's skin to his fingertips. His eyes widened and Jiwon was taken aback at his sudden grip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin realizes then, that he could siphon off Freya's enchantment away from Jiwon. "Let go of me, witch." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He only tightens his hold. Jiwon tries to push him, Hanbin toughens up, holding onto him firmly as if his life depended on him. "Look at me, Jiwon," He demands. </span>
  <em>
    <span>"Look at me."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There goes his eyes, acting as if he was sired. Like he's the only witch he listens to. Jiwon stares back at him, pupils dark… a circle of gold… and then black again. He's resisting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Freya's not carrying your child. She's lying to you," he tries to tell him, even though he knows he hasn't fully siphoned off the harpy's magic. He can sense her coming. Any minute now. He's frantic as he hopes for the process to be over. It's taking too damn long to get rid of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let go," Jiwon pleads. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't believe her, Jiwon. Think about your mother. Don't just—" He lets go of his arm just in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya's sneaking up on Jiwon's side, caressing his cheeks and then kissing his lips. Jiwon holds onto her waist lovingly. He failed to siphon her enchantment. He hoped he had taken enough. He hopes Jiwon heard him through his subconscious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're awake." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How long have I been asleep?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not long. Right, Hanbin?" She turns to face her with a phony smile, holding on to Jiwon's shoulder. He sees for the first time how trapped he looked like, and wonders if someone had tried saving him before. Did they think he didn't need it because he was too powerful? Or was he too far away from reality that he had never thought to seek for help, or at least try to escape. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had pieced together Jiwon's life before the beginning of the new millennium. In 1919, he met a White Lotus witch named Kim Hara, who was supposed to help him kill another keeper, Jung Chanwoo, in order to resurrect his mother who was drastically killed by her own pack because of him. In 1924, he met Freya, a different keeper who promised to give him her fragment of the stone as long as he'll spend his eternity with her after he was done with his mission. He experienced a false sense of ownership in her, while she took advantage of him. And if Jiwon had really loved her despite all of it, he couldn't imagine the pain he must've suffered when she killed herself in front of him. She did it in order to let him keep her stone, knowing she'll come back enough for when Jiwon decides to kill the last keeper aside from him. And then she'll convince him to give her the only one that really matters, the one that lets you stay alive forever, without restrictions, without competition. He doesn't know how she planned it but it was probably bound to happen no matter what. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon's about to experience it all again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he'll make sure not to let her win this time. He's a witch, after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And witches believe that the dead should stay dead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A wave of memories came crashing back to him when Hanbin held his arm. It's the same reaction every time he flips the </span>
  <span><a id="back2" name="back2"></a><a id="back1" name="back1"></a>switch<a href="#note2"><sup>2</sup> </a></span>
  <span> back on, except this one was in detail. He wants it to stop. He tells Hanbin to stop but he wouldn't budge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind drifts off to his dream just before he wakes up. The first time Freya had made him kill someone innocent. Jiwon was careful not to include the people that don't really matter in his hit-list. There's a fine line between a mortal and a supernatural. For Jiwon, the former exists solely for their desired purpose in life. He uses them here and there but he never really disposes them like how he would a monster. The latter exists as a medium for him to get what he wants though. A witch to perform a locator spell, a wolf to protect his kind. Jiwon was more intact with his lycanthropic side. He doesn't want to associate himself with the barbaric vampires. Although it was the wolves who had tore his mother apart, it was his vampire side that had led to it. But he never really shied away from using his vampirism to his own advantage. It has the best perks after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a feast in front of their favorite speakeasy, after the 1924 town-wide election, that the newly elected mayor conducted. It's the place where he first met Freya. And now they're living together in an old apartment nearby, masquerading as humble locals. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya had told him he'll enjoy it. She's new in the town but she knows how it works. The men will get drunk and the ladies, which may or may not be their wives, will seduce them. She was clear on telling him that he'll let him be unfaithful that night. Pick a woman of her dreams… bury his fangs on her neck. Jiwon laughed it off and thought it to be ridiculous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Later on, she found out Freya preys on men. She ate their guts out as soon as they fell unconscious, they won't be able to wake up anymore. Jiwon watched her in horror, because he never thought he'd get to see her like that. Freya came up to him, blood dripping from her chin. She said, "I want to watch you too." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had already compelled the one in her arms, still and lenient with hollow eyes, brown hair. Jiwon was only planning to take a sip. He had managed to fund a hospital in the place where he gets his supply of blood bags, but Freya wanted this. So he buried his fangs on her neck, eyes closed. For a minute, it felt good. It felt liberating. He stops to breathe when it was too much, when he was starting to revel in it. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was never a messy drinker. Just two holes on the safer skin of the neck, easy to cover up. He stared at Freya, as if asking for validation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're still hungry," she claimed. He wasn't. She was wrong. He had drunk enough. "You are, Jiwon. Drink some more. Look at her." He looked.  "She wants you to enjoy it. Let go of your inhibitions. Feed on her." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so he fed. His eyes were open but he saw nothing but darkness. There was this exhilaration that only the living, breathing, blood of a human being could give, and Jiwon took it all. He fed until he was tearing her flesh apart, blood splashing onto his cheeks. He fed until her head fell off and there was nothing to feed on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he didn't stop there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He killed all the women on their table, unfortunate enough to have been charmed by both his looks and Freya's. He fed on them like he was an animal. And when he snapped out of it, there was a pause of realization, and then there were tears in his eyes. He wailed. He screamed in intense anguish as he tried to put their heads back to their bodies in guilt. Freya crouched down to level with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The people I have killed are murderers who got away with it because of their money. And the people you have killed are their wives who knew about it yet refused to tell. It was only fair, Jiwon. They have to know their actions have consequences." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon wanted to tell her to stop playing God. It was not up to them to punish mortal sins when they were the monsters themselves. But instead, he let himself be hugged. There was nothing more comforting than all the words Freya had told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The very next morning, they flee to another city. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made her do it again. This time against a colony led by her previous husband. He didn't dwell on it much that time. Maybe because he thought Freya was in real danger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He managed to kill them all but one had struck a wooden stake in his heart. It felt like he was dying for real. He's down on the ground as he watches Freya running towards him. It was a blur but he knew even just a peak of her shadow. He had memorized every curve of her body. She must've thought he was already gone, set back to restart in a few hours. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you for saving me, wolf." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jiwon didn’t like the sound of it coming from her lips. It was like he was treated as an animal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had forgotten about it when he woke up, in another bed, in another house, another city. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With Freya, all they do is run. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Listen, love. I don't know what you did, but it partly worked," he busts into Hanbin's room later that night, clutching at his temple. Everything's turning and he feels dizzy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jiwon! Jiwon, God, Jiwon," he chuckles when Hanbin comes up to him. "I siphoned off her enchantment. Let me complete it, give me your hand," The witch demands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head, "We don't have much time. I'm here to tell you how to kill her. I got your message." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In between the glimpse he had experienced as Hanbin was siphoning Freya's enchantment off of him, he realized it was all in his head. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>other</span>
  </em>
  <span> heartbeat. He heard it because he wanted it. Fueled by his own desire, his need to have a family, and with the addition of Freya looking into his eyes to cage him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What? How?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stumbles trying to reach him. "There's this legend I heard before. When one of the harpy's hairs is plucked, they either die or turn into a non-living being. Try it—argh," he shakes his head to clear his vision. "Or shoot her in the heart. Whatever works," he sees darkness before fully conceding to it, letting it swallow him to another sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hopes Hanbin would succeed and not get himself killed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>///////</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hanbin was fidgeting in his bed. After throwing Jiwon's unconscious body out before Freya comes back, he's been thinking about what the hybrid had said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he does kill Freya tonight, things will be much easier. They're going to go back to their original plan. He stares at the gun loaded with wooden bullets on his desk like it magically grew head. He can't possibly kill her with it. He's got the worst aim. But how could he get a hold of Freya's hair? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hits him almost immediately, it's easy to forget since he wasn't used to having magic outside the coven. He holds onto his sapphire necklace. He's a witch. He's not a meek mortal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll be sure to finish her once and for all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For Jiwon.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn't able to sleep, barely even a wink. He was up all night formulating ways on how to successfully kill Freya. If he fails, it'll be his life to pay the price. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya knows he's a witch. But she has no idea of him being a siphon. It's not a very noticeable trait, and his scent—if one was able to smell—was just like that of an ordinary witch. All he needs is to catch her off guard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The perfect timing seems to come to him almost immediately. He figures Freya was making Jiwon drink something as he was still yet to wake up, to slow down his movement, break his walls, and then dive into the depths of his emotions to know where to strike. Then, she'll be able to control him. It's always been a fear of him that Jiwon was too powerful for his own good, but now he hopes he's powerful enough to fight through it. Because in all honesty, he needs his help the most. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya was cooking lunch, and Hanbin was forced to help her in the kitchen. She had made it clear that she needed him too, still needing a White Lotus witch to get to Jung Chanwoo. His lack of complaint was enough to deceive her that he was complacent. He'll take advantage of that and turn the tables around. Hopefully, Jiwon will be awake to back him up in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He envisions Freya throwing the knife she was holding to chop onions right into his throat once he tries something. If he wasn't flexible enough to avoid it, he'll rely on luck. His instincts are on overdrive, he's agitated. He was confident back in the car, while Jiwon talks about his past, that he will get through this no matter what. How naive could he be to think he could take on Jung Chanwoo, the last of them all, when here in front of him was another keeper brought back to life. Someone who feeds on vulnerability of men, of one powerful hybrid that bows to no one. Freya had memorized Jiwon's ups and downs, his highs and lows. She knows how to tear him apart if needed be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room was too quiet for his own liking. But it gives him another time to think. He's nervous, he's sweating. One wrong move and he's dead. He realizes that there's really no other way. So he disregards all worries and retrieves the </span>
  <em>
    <span>vampire repellent</span>
  </em>
  <span> gun in his pocket, except the bullet was hexed with a spell that would reprimand her instantly. He fires and almost misses, hitting her shoulder, she screams. The bullet's in her system. She couldn't move. Hanbin sighs in relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lifts his fingers and directs them to her, inducing a headache enough to stop her from biting back. Hanbin saunters forward. One strand of hair. It's all he needs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya endures the searing pain in his head, she laughs hysterically when she figures out what Hanbin was going to do. "You can't kill me, witch," she said, full of spite. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin focuses on trying to get close, despite the hammering in his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you even know who Jiwon is?" She scoffs, voice ragged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know enough," he claims with conviction, and even if he doesn't, he trusts Jiwon more than her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freya shakes her head, laughing scornfully. "That's what you think, witch."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you don't stop talking, I'll do something that you'll regret," he threatens, holding onto his sapphire necklace. Freya stares at the stone hanging on his neck. She knows now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're siding with the monster who killed your mother," her eyes travel upwards, meeting his own. "Jiwon was the reason the Priestess went insane." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin realizes that Freya wasn't deceived. She knew the whole time. About him being a siphon. Because she was certain what kind of memory to use to weaken him, to trigger his anger. "The pack of wolves she killed was Jiwon's own. He was supposed to turn them into an army of hybrids, sired to him. And your mother, with you in her womb, had promised to give you up in exchange of Jiwon's vampire toxin. She planned to get rid of the wolves roaming in the bayou during the full moon, to protect her fellow witches as it was part of her job as the Priestess. She was willing to give you up for it but Jiwon gave his army instead, the idea of creating hybrids long forgotten just to save you. But you know what your mother did, didn't you? She killed them all. And gradually she went insane, you watched her slowly succumb to death. It was all Jiwon's fault. He had the power to compel the mind of a supernatural. He told her that the wolves she had killed will forever haunt her, in her dreams, in her reality. She would see blood and mangled bodies, she would hear cries of the innocent families she included in her curse. All while letting her bleed out the vervain in her system." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were tears running down his cheeks when Freya stopped talking, his fists clenched unconsciously. He cries as he shouts, "You're lying!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why would I lie?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How would you know that? You were dead!" He pulls out the gun and points it to her heart. It feels more opt considering his rage. His chest was tight and he could barely breathe. He sees red at every step he takes, sobbing. The memory of his mother suffering every single day, every moment he had spent with her, coughing up blood. He would wake up in the middle of the night just to hear her wailing in pain, and he didn't know how to help. He didn't know what to do because he didn't know how it happened. He was a child born without magic. How could he ever save his mother? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"As you follow Kim Jiwon's orders, as you help him resurrect his own mother, I hope you remember how you could never bring yours back. She's gone forever. Who knows if she had ever found peace?" The side of her lips rose. Dark, glaring eyes directed at him. "And I was never dead, Kim Hanbin," she adds, "in fact, I sold my soul to a witch you'll meet soon. Just like your—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The same time he pulled the trigger, her head came flying off her body. Blood splattering everywhere and before he closes his eyes, he sees Jiwon. He was able to decapitate Freya in one slap, veins under his gold eyes, fangs out. But Hanbin had missed Freya's heart again, and so the bullet had struck Jiwon in the chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A slap in the head never goes out of style," he could imagine the smirk on his lips at the end of his sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wipes his face off the tears and blood, unclenching his fists, the gun falling down on the floor. His knees weaken and he lets himself fall too. Jiwon was fast enough to catch him in his arms. His warmth engulfs him and he's drowning, he gasps, and sobs. The hybrid was bleeding but he let him. How could he feel comfortable with the person who was said to be responsible for his mother's suffering? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're safe now, love. Stay with me," Jiwon whispers, lips on the crown of his head, holding him close. He grips on his arm, just to feel something. The enchantment was gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How… how did you escape?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I suppose it was when you shot her. The spell started to wear off slowly. As soon as I could stand up, I followed where the mumbling came from," he chuckles. "Vampire senses aren't completely back yet."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How did you know it would kill her?" He asks. He's been wondering why Jiwon didn't go with the original shot to the heart or pluck the hair plan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I realized the only way to kill her would be how the Moon Goddess intended her to die. Plucking her hair would only turn her into a permanent harpy, and she would be able to come back to life overmorrow." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanbin nods, yielding. He retreats from Jiwon's hold and the hybrid's must've sensed something was wrong. He lets him move away. Hanbin couldn't look at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You missed my heart terribly, love," Jiwon's smiling as he sticks his fingers in the side of his chest to get the bullet out, wincing a little. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wants to ask badly if it was true. If any of it was true. If it were, he wouldn't know what to do. He's powerless over him. He's a nobody. A path Jiwon was only meant to cross just once, like anybody else he had encountered. Like Kim Taeri in 1667. Like Kim Hara in 1919. Like Freya in 1924. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A black marble rolls down to his feet. His eyes trace the trail of blood from where it came from, stopping at Freya's open mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the hell is that?" Jiwon asks beside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was reminded of Freya's last words before Jiwon came. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I sold my soul to a witch you'll meet soon. Just like your—"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He remembers seeing the same black marble on the land he was standing on the day of his mother's funeral.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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<a id="note1" name="note1"></a>Freya's storyline is loosely based on a short story in a children's book called In A Dark, Dark Room. The ribbon there is green though. I honestly don't understand why it's a children's book, I mean, that's pretty morbid if you ask me. Anyway, there's also this character named <a href="https://fables.fandom.com/wiki/Vivian">Vivian</a> from the game TWAU. Pretty cute. RIP tho.
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/70225941#back1"> [return to text]</a></sup>
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<a id="note2" name="note2"></a>I know, I know. I've been talking about this "turning off the emotions" thing even in the previous chapter but I felt like this was quite the best time to explain it. So, there's this option in a vampire's brain, it acts like a switch where you could just turn off all emotions and feel nothing. I guess it's for when they couldn't take anything anymore and their conscience is eating them up. To flip the switch back on, it needs to be triggered by a memory/vision/sense which is so powerful that it suddenly makes you feel things. That's probably just it. In the past, Jiwon had done this multiple times. During 1925 onwards, the trigger memory was Freya. When the switch is flipped back on, there's barely anything you can remember. Just a glimpse that you can't make sense of. 
<sup><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208594/chapters/70225941#back2"> [return to text]</a></sup>
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        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. mirrors of abomination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! February was a hectic month so I didn't have the time to post an update. I figured I'd give you guys something this early lol.</p><p>Originally, I planned to post at least 10k words per chapter so it'll end with 100k. I worked hard to meet my own word count every month but then I realized most things didn't make sense in the end lmao. Not many people read this and I understand it can get really boring so I didn't wanna waste anyone's time. I'm still gonna write for this fic but I will try to be brief in everything from now on fjfjfjf thank you for still reading! ♡</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He dreams about the cold and lifeless winter of 1995. Weeks after he was out of the confines of the marble coffin he spent years desiccated in. </p><p>Jiwon had been busy collecting an army of feral, packless wolves that he's meaning to turn into hybrids later on, his sires. He doesn't know how long he's going to be awake but what better way to spend his time was to make things easier for himself by trying to acquire a White Lotus witch of his own before he goes ballistic, instead of counting his days until he was back again in the coffin. If he doesn’t kill another keeper in this decade he’s going to go unhinged fully. Jiwon has a plan in mind. It includes threats and persuasion, like every plan he had ever had. </p><p>The wolves he had managed to convince to be part of his pack were one of the reasons the witches in the eastern bayou haven't had any form of peace during the full moon. Jiwon finds it amusing, and he thinks it would even be more interesting what they could do if they were able to turn at will. Hence, his hybrid blood offering. </p><p>However, it didn't exactly run smoothly. He was interrupted by the exact kind of supernatural he's been hell-bent on getting ahold of, and those of which were also hell-bent on protecting themselves from him at all cost. She claims to be the current White Lotus Priestess, one who significantly has more control over nature's forces. Kim Heeyeon.</p><p>Jiwon has never met her. Not even once. They talked through letters brought in several parcels with which the words magically appear once opened and disappear after he was done reading. They were something he couldn't hold onto as proof that he had been terrorized by a witch he thought had nothing to do with him from the very beginning. Anyway, he figures it was for the best. </p><p>He was on his way to the wolf's bayou, from their side of town—where he keeps some of them grounded—when he received the first parcel. </p><p>"Where's your supposed Alpha?" He doesn't consider himself as their leader, because he was only meant to be their sire. Jiwon doesn't really care enough to <em> lead </em> a whole pack, he just wanted someone to do his bidding. </p><p>"Out," a young wolf tells him, extending his hands to give him a parcel. He said it was delivered by a crow, headed back to the direction of the witches' coven in the far east. </p><p>Jiwon raises a brow, staring at the parcel in hand. It was light, almost as if nothing was inside. When he opened it, he wondered why it only contained a single, white envelope wrapped meticulously. He tears the side and takes the letter out, putting it in his pocket. He reads it once he’s alone. </p><p>The words run along the blank paper in cursive, appearing one by one as if someone was writing them right at that instant, out of his sight. Jiwon immediately knows it was from a witch. It was the same way Kim Hara's letter presented itself in front of him. </p><p>
  <em> For the lone hybrid who lives in the bayou by the border,  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It has come to my attention that you have been planning an attack regarding my people on the dawn of the 26th, a time where it has been predicted to be the coldest day of the month according to the winds. As you may know, it is my responsibility to protect the witches with the last of my breath as I have made a vow to do so with the same Goddess who had created a creature like yourself. However, it is my choice to reach out to you before you make any move on your own. I wanted to offer you something you've always wanted, and I am more than certain you would not be able to refuse.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I hope this letter reaches you in good condition. Crows aren't really the most trustworthy but I had to make an adjustment as the other birds can't make it in your territory without having to die. I suppose they could sense how vile the environment is.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Keep in mind that I will be waiting for your response resolutely, but I do hope you won't take long. The crow will be back in two days time. It would be enough for you to think. If you would do something that I could take as your retaliation, you will surely regret it.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sincerely, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Kim Heeyeon, White Lotus Priestess  </em>
</p><p>Jiwon watched as the words slowly faded into dust, and the paper was back to a spotless blank. </p><p>If he was being completely honest, the first thought that came to his mind after reading the letter was, <em> "What the hell is this bitch on about?" </em> </p><p>But he was too curious for his own good. Even though there was an underlying condescension from the witch's words in the letter when she was regarding him, he could not stop thinking about whatever it was that he <em> always wanted, </em> something the witch had deemed so enough to courageously offer it to him. And so he has written a letter back, a short one with the right questions because he definitely has no time to run around circles. Some of the wolves were missing, including the Alpha. He knows the witch had something to do with it.</p><p>The crow arrives at midnight, just as fast as it comes, it goes, carrying the letter off to the coven. Jiwon waits for the next one. </p><p>
  <em> Kim Jiwon,  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> This will probably be the last letter I will write to you. I have received yours and learned based on the tone of your questions that you are more inclined to precision.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A few months ago, I met up with a witch from a different coven. I will not go into the details of our furtive rendezvous but it has led to me being pregnant with his child. I found out later on that he was a shunned White Lotus witch taken in, which was considered illicit in terms of our coven's law. With that in question, I'm sure the child in my womb wouldn't function as a normal witch as it will be nature's way of punishing me. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I'd get to the point. There are wolves from your made up pack that ended up back in the far east, the same ones who used to terrorize our coven every full moon. I offered them a deal beforehand, but they claimed to have been sired by you. These wolves think they can fool me when I can smell not an ounce of hybrid blood in them. Anyway, what it is that I like is for you to spare these wolves and let me take them instead, they'd protect the coven and I'll free them from the curse, which I am very much capable of doing so. I would also like a vial of your blood to ration it whenever one of my witches needs it to heal. In exchange, I would give you my child the same day it would be born, a pure-blooded White Lotus witch that you so longingly craved for. It is up to your will if you want to raise it first or kill it right away. It is a sacrifice I have to make for the sake of my fellow witches. I took a vow. My heart will not rest if I break it.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Your response will determine the action I will do next. Please remember that I am not just a witch, the magic that flows through me is given by nature itself, and much more. You do not understand the extent of my adequate capabilities. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sincerely,  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Kim Heeyeon. </em>
</p><p>Jiwon inhales sharply. He couldn't believe what he just read. Someone… a mother… was willing to sacrifice her own child for the benefit of a whole coven who knows full well how to protect themselves. It was so different from what he knows, from what he remembers. If it was Kim Heeyeon's own way of being selfless, she sounded more like she wouldn't love her child nevertheless, a fruit of an unlawful tryst. Still it was not a reason enough to give it away to its possible doom. </p><p>Jiwon lived without abiding any rule that comes his way, but if he was to make one, he'd never take someone's child away from its mother. He wasn't <em> that </em> desperate. </p><p>The letter he sent was shorter than last time. Not even a greeting, he didn't even bother to sign it. </p><p>
  <em> I am terribly sorry for what happened to you and the witch who had you fooled. However, there was no way I'd take your child away from you no matter how much you'd hate it. Respectfully, I would like for you to go fuck yourself.  </em>
</p><p>Jiwon doesn't have time to be regretful. He thought it'd be the last time. But after a few days, there was another crow carrying a parcel, larger and heavier in his arms. He opens it and sees the Alpha's decapitated head inside, almost unrecognizable, definitely not fresh. </p><p>No letter was attached.</p><p>Jiwon figures it was telling enough.   </p><p>Not long after, every wolf around him in the bayou succumbed to a death they never expected, shredded skin bared in flesh and soaked with blood. Jiwon set everything ablaze, unable to give them a proper funeral. His head was filled with maddening rage, shouting in extreme anger. </p><p>The Priestess had made her move. </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>Hanbin knows Jiwon could feel that there was something wrong. But what it was exactly, he couldn't pinpoint. Hanbin was keeping his quiet.  </p><p>"We should stop by another motel tonight. I don't think the path we're about to cross allows Pontiacs," Jiwon snorts, turning his head to give him a quick glance. Hanbin only hums in agreement, head tipped to the side to lean on the window. The hybrid gives up on the small talk, possibly thinking he was dead tired from all the previous things that happened before they could even get to their first destination.  </p><p>Hanbin wasn't just tired. He was exhausted. He was frightened and shocked. He was confused. Jiwon managed to kill Freya while drugged, or under a spell? Cursed? He honestly doesn't know how to begin to explain to himself his current situation. It didn't help that her last words had gotten to him. And the black marble shoved deep in his pockets, the one identical to what he found during his mother's funeral, kept in a box of grimoires and old lockets back in his old house. </p><p>He was torn between asking Jiwon about it or justifying what he did for the sake of their mission. But it wasn't just anyone Freya said Jiwon killed. It was his mother. Whether or not it was true… there's still something in him that believes. Whether or not she was lying… Hanbin's head was too full to see that. </p><p>The car stops at an abandoned-looking, cheap motel. Hanbin thinks Jiwon can do better than this but he knows the hybrid was just as tired. He was manipulated yet again… brainwashed, by the same person he used to love. Hanbin wonders if the same thing has happened to him. Has Freya managed to influence him too?</p><p>"It's got two rooms," Jiwon tells him before yawning, covering the lower half of his face. Hanbin nods. "We leave as soon as the sun rises." </p><p>He watches Jiwon's retreating back head towards his room, stretching a little and then closing the door behind him. Hanbin sighs. If he had enough courage to ask him what's on his mind, would he tell the truth? He thinks there wasn't anything else he would wish for Jiwon to give more than his honesty. It's something he'll be happy to hold onto. </p><p>He goes to his own room and throws himself on the bed. He doesn't really feel sleepy, but he needs to rest for the sake of regaining his strength . </p><p>There was a bigger problem other than his lack of enthusiasm to be off to dreamland. Whenever he closes his eyes, he sees Jiwon right after he had killed Freya. Savage and unrepentant, with blood splattered on his crumpled face resembling that of a monster from his worst nightmares. Except this time, it was his mother's head he had decapitated. Hanbin pushes the thought of sleep away and sits up on the bed, breathing heavily. He couldn't do this. </p><p>He tiptoes out of his room and carefully closes the door so as to not wake the hybrid up. Well, he would've been alerted still if he was awake due to his heightened senses. He stops in his tracks when he sees him smoking in the free lot near the motel, under a lamp post with one of his knees bent, foot on the wall. He's got the sleeves of his grey Henley shirt folded up to his elbows, brown curls of his fringe over his eyes, and jaws sharp as he huffs on the stick in between his fingers. The daylight ring he made for him gleams. The hybrid meets his gaze. </p><p>Hanbin gulps. He doesn't come closer. None of them did. But their distance wasn't far enough to keep them apart. Jiwon smiles, "Couldn't sleep?" </p><p>He shakes his head, "There's a lot on my mind," he admits, not breaking gazes. </p><p>Jiwon's head tipped upwards to blow smoke. He sees a perfect outline of his Adam's apple and that's when he looks away. Jiwon steps on the last of his cigarette until the heat dies down in his throat, on his feet. He fishes for something in his pocket and Hanbin sees another one of the vampire repellent guns from their stash of weapons, one he was supposed to use to protect himself. The hybrid throws it in his direction and Hanbin almost doesn't catch it, both hands up in the air. It hits his chest when he does. </p><p>"What am I supposed to do with this?" </p><p>Jiwon then walks closer to him, Hanbin doesn't have the time to stand back so instead he points the gun at the hybrid. Jiwon pouts, raising both of his hands. His frown gets replaced with a smirk. "So, I was thinking… since you seem to have the worst aim, maybe we should practice." </p><p>Hanbin sighs, putting the gun down. "I'm not in the mood, Jiwon." He's almost ready to turn around and walk away but the hybrid was fast enough to come to him. In the blink of an eye, they're already face to face. Jiwon cocks a brow, lips perpetually in his favorite smirk. He takes his hand with the gun and points it to his heart. </p><p>The next second, Jiwon has moved behind him, arms over his shoulders. And while Hanbin has no vampire senses, no heightened hearing whatsoever, he could feel how fast Jiwon's heart beats in his chest, against his back. His breath was warm against his skin, hands rough and freezing. The hybrid tries to make his grip firm, and then he bends his arm so it would point at Hanbin's own heart this time. </p><p>"Wooden bullets are meant to kill vampires without much fuss. This is where you aim it." He holds his breath and Jiwon presses closer, voice almost in a whisper. "Vervain-soaked bullets are just plain torture. I've been shot more times than I can count in my fingers and they're too tricky to get out. So, I just rip my heart along with them," Jiwon chuckles. “Vervain-soaked wooden bullets though… that’s hell on Earth.”</p><p>Hanbin refuses to talk. He's taken everything in just to keep quiet. Jiwon's too close, and he's too… comfortable. It's not what he wants to feel right now. </p><p>But he misses it almost completely when Jiwon pulls away, the cold embracing him in an instant when the source of warmth has left. No hands to hold him, no heartbeat to hear. </p><p>He turns around to face him, the hybrid looking like he's finally figured him out. </p><p>"What did Freya tell you?" </p><p>"Nothing."</p><p>"Come on, love," Jiwon scoffs. "The way you act around me is certainly not nothing." </p><p>Hanbin averts his eyes, "I'm going in." He prepares to leave. Jiwon's presence doesn't follow him, but he does hear his voice when he says, "Don't demonize me too much, love. We got a long way to go." </p><p>That he can't promise. </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>They ended up walking, opting to leave the car in the motel's parking lot. Hanbin rolled his eyes after figuring out Jiwon would rather damage anything else but his Firebird. He made him carry some weapons though, saying he'll take it back to use once they're at their destination. </p><p>"Did she say I was a good for nothing bastard and that set you off?" </p><p>The hybrid keeps on bugging him about whatever Freya told him to make him act a certain way, that is, not being in the mood to converse. Jiwon can't seem to accept that he's feeling down. Well, more than down actually. He feels like he's practically betraying his mother's peace by simply helping Jiwon carry out with his master plan. Hanbin thinks he's got no choice. He just had to wait for it to be over. </p><p>The problem lies within Hanbin himself. He's trying to defend and defame Jiwon in his mind at the same time, in the process, he doesn't know where to stand. He doesn't know what to believe anymore. It'll be easier if he could just ask the hybrid beside him, but something tells him he's not going to like his answer. And he's so, so afraid it'll end whatever was between them. Because when push comes to shove, Jiwon will always choose himself, and he's the only one capable of staying alive longer than expected. Hanbin didn't want to die. Not in the hands of the hybrid, certainly not because of his own volition. </p><p>"I'm walking on needles here, love," Jiwon purses his lips pensively. "And I'm running out of guesses," he adds. </p><p>Hanbin scoffs, "Stop guessing."</p><p>"Then tell me what's bothering you." </p><p>"I told you it's nothing!" </p><p>Jiwon tilts his head, "What lies did Freya make you believe?" </p><p>"Don't seem like lies to me," he murmurs, which Jiwon obviously hears. </p><p>"If you tell me what those were, I'll tell you if it's true. Or you can just compel it out of me. Didn't you do that before? Witch voodoo thing."</p><p>He rolls his eyes once more, abruptly halting mid-walk when he receives a <em> signal </em> on the necklace he was wearing. He was sure it was Jinhwan's doing. He looks around and sees tall trees acting as an opening to a maze. He pulls Jiwon's arm to make him stop walking as well.</p><p>"So?" </p><p>"We're here."</p><p>"What?" </p><p>"Mirrors of abomination."</p><p>Jiwon looks around too, and for a second, Hanbin was worried he couldn't see it. But he remembered it only appears through an immortal supernatural's vision, which was definitely what Jiwon is, and their offering, which was definitely him.</p><p>"Where are the mirrors?" Jiwon asks. </p><p>"Must be inside," Hanbin answers, squinting his eyes. The pathway seems endless. He thought it'll be a building or just a void space only they can enter. </p><p>Jiwon slides his hand to hold his, Hanbin turns to face him in a questioning glare. The hybrid smiles, "Let's go in." </p><p>His hand was surprisingly warm now, almost alive. Hanbin doesn't complain. They walk side by side, together as they get sucked from the inside, in a somewhat portal where they end up still in the beginning of the maze, except they couldn't go back anymore. The gateway of trees behind them had closed. They were trapped. Hanbin tries to breathe. </p><p>"Remember, we're looking for a vial of blood somewhere in here. It could be hidden discreetly or very well, anyway—are you okay?" </p><p>Hanbin shakes his head once, as if telling him to go on. As they walk, Jiwon's hand tightens around him, but his pace moves slower. </p><p>"You'd be able to sense where the blood is since he's a White Lotus witch just like you. I guess, you'll have to lead the way." </p><p>Hanbin nods, trying to keep his calm. It felt a little hard to breathe, but Jiwon reminds him that he's by his side from time to time. It helps. </p><p>At first they agreed on turning left at every entryway. Jiwon constantly asks him if he feels anything significant that could lead them to where the blood vial was. Hanbin constantly answers no. His senses were off, almost like a signal got jammed somewhere. He lets Jiwon drag him to wherever he thinks the blood may be as he tries to deduct what it was that keeps his senses from working. </p><p>Jiwon entwines their fingers all of a sudden, Hanbin exhales sharply. He feels like being stabbed. "How about now? Do you feel something?" </p><p>And then it hit him. </p><p>"I think… we need to separate."</p><p>"What?" </p><p>Hanbin tries to ease his fingers out of Jiwon's hold but the hybrid refuses to let up. His chest gets constricted. "Your keeper energy… it blocks out my senses… it's… Jiwon…"</p><p>"Hey, Hanbin, what's happening?" </p><p>It feels like the walls around him are inching closer, his sight almost turning white, his breath stuck in his throat and when he opens his mouth, no words could come out. There's panic in Jiwon's eyes, and he squeezes his hands so hard he hopes his message could get across. He faintly hears him asking <em> what's wrong? </em> as he weakly croaks out <em> let go. </em></p><p>He gasps for air the minute his hand was free, holding onto his knees. He felt like he just drowned without the water, but breathing seems so easy now. He curses in his mind. <em> What the fuck was that? </em></p><p>When he lifts his head after recovering, Jiwon is gone and he’s all alone. </p><p>He's out of the maze. </p><p>There are mirrors everywhere. </p><p>But not one reflection. </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>"Hanbin!" </p><p>"Kim Hanbin!" </p><p>"Goddamn it," Jiwon curses under his breath. He didn't even get to see how it happened. All he knew was that it physically hurt him when he let go of Hanbin's hand. It was like life was sucking the breath out of him, or the same sensation as when his heart was being ripped out. </p><p>Jiwon opened his eyes and was met with an endless void. There was nothing around him, nobody to spare, no one to see. He called for his name once, twice, there was no answer. </p><p>"Stupid witches and their lairs," he lets out another curse for Jung Chanwoo, and whoever helped him built the place, if there was one. </p><p>Soon, there were mirrors appearing in all directions, in different lights, different angles. Tall, rectangular, and stopping at nothing. He sees his reflection in all of them. </p><p>Jiwon scoffs, "Mirrors of abomination, nice. I get it." </p><p>His laugh was almost bitter, but it ended before he could even revel in it. The memories from when he was called different names, just because he was different. How he was feared, and how powerful he felt. Jiwon didn’t really maximize his powers all the time, but when the circumstances allowed him to do so, he didn’t hold back. </p><p>He stares at his reflection for a moment, perplexed at how rough he looked, how distressed. One glance longer and he realized it wasn’t him. It was Kim Hanbin. </p><p>Jiwon turns around, still surrounded by mirrors, except all his reflection fades into another and different images of the witch who’s nowhere to be found right now. </p><p>A young Kim Hanbin alienated from a group of young witches. He’s on the far side of their coven, picking flowers with a charming smile. His skin was too pale, but his cheeks were dusted pink as he smelled the flowers he had picked. Before he could take it to whoever he was meant to give it to, a woman comes up to him, locking his jaw with his hand and then slapping him hard enough to send him down on the ground. She takes the flowers off his hand, reprimanding him, shouting words Jiwon cannot hear but knows they were something that hurt. The young boy cries, wiping his face with little hands as he endures the beatings and those that were yet to come. Jiwon averts his gaze, unable to stare at him any longer. </p><p>Another mirror shows another memory of Kim Hanbin, a little bit older than last time but still young. The coven was surrounded by darkness and only a big bowl of fire illuminated the center aisle. Kim Hanbin was crying, thrashing around as two men held onto his frail arms. There’s a cloaked woman by the fireside, holding a branding iron with the White Lotus stamp, extending the brand towards the fire to heat it up. Jiwon squinted when Hanbin’s shirt was ripped from the shoulder, crying as he awaits to be <em> christened. </em> The woman brings the burning hot branding iron closer to the pitiful child without hesitation, marking his pure skin with their coven’s symbol. Hanbin’s face contorted in pain, but before she could finish his brand, a shadow loomed over them and halted the branding, causing a momentary blackout, sending everybody else in a frenzy… and then killing the woman with the branding iron in a flash.</p><p>In another timeline, he sees Hanbin all grown up. The youth seems to have washed over him, he looked like he was a lot older than he was meant to be, all rough on the outside, torn on the inside. There wasn’t a trace of smile on his face, not a single joy. He’s kneeling on the bed, holding a woman’s hand, wrinkling and almost out of life. Jiwon’s almost tired of seeing him cry all the time in the past, but he knows not everything about him was rainbows and butterflies. Kim Hanbin cries his heart out for the woman, grip on her wrist tightening as he pleads for someone to give her a longer life. Jiwon clenches his fist when the mirror shows whom the witch was crying for.</p><p>It was her.</p><p>The White Lotus Priestess of 1995.</p><p>Kim Hanbin’s mother.</p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>Hanbin doesn’t understand why he was seeing Jiwon in all the mirrors around him. Everywhere he looks, there’s a memory of the hybrid that he wasn’t sure he was supposed to see. Yet it hurts to close his eyes.</p><p>Jiwon’s mother was the Alpha of their pack, she was a beautiful, strong-willed woman with the looks of a true warrior, but she held Jiwon in her arms so tenderly he knew he was loved. The young wolf was trained to take over the pack at an early age. He was shown around the bayou like he would be the king, like it would be his own kingdom. But that was before Jiwon triggered his wolf curse. It was just a simple brawl, but he had killed his friend at such a young age. And Hanbin had seen the look of horror in his face. Jiwon was mortified, afraid, and he kept to himself instead of asking for his mother’s help. Jiwon turned on his own, hiding inside a cave as every bone in his body breaks one by one. When Jiwon didn’t turn on the next full moon, all the wolves knew there was something wrong with him. Hanbin watches as they haunt his mother down, who used to be their Alpha, the woman who led them to be the kind of wolves they are now. The children who turned their backs to their mother. Jiwon’s mother was killed, and Jiwon was forced to watch it all on the sidelines, crying to himself, unable to do anything to help. He was left alone and that was the mark of the birth of another monster.</p><p>Hanbin knows Jiwon was ruthless because he had to survive, but that didn’t stop the mirrors from showing him how vicious the hybrid can be, or used to be, or still is. He sees every killing spree, in various countries, on separate occasions, in different years. Jiwon rips out hearts like it was replaceable, he burned down cities, and wiped out an entire family tree. He was on a rampage.</p><p>When he deems he had seen enough, Hanbin tries to divert his attention from all the wolf’s reflection and tries to focus on finding the energy where Jung Chanwoo’s blood was hidden. It worked for a moment, he was getting closer. He tries to close his eyes despite the throbbing pain, doing his best to keep searching for that energy, keep reaching for it. He’s a White Lotus witch, Jung Chanwoo’s a White Lotus witch. He will find it.</p><p>“Ah!” Hanbin holds onto his head as if lightning has struck him, forcing him to open his eyes abruptly. The mirror in front of him shows his mother’s reflection, in a white tunic with his long hair flowing freely down to his waist. It was the time when she was still a Priestess. </p><p>He narrows his eyes and furrows his brows, asking himself why she was showing up in Jiwon’s vivid memories. Her mother was pregnant, she was sending a letter through a sickly crow. Hanbin catches glimpses of it. </p><p>
  <em> I'm sure the child in my womb wouldn't function as a normal witch as it will be nature's way of punishing me. </em>
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  <em> In exchange, I would give you my child the same day it would be born, a pure-blooded White Lotus witch that you so longingly craved for.  </em>
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  <em>  I would like for you to go fuck yourself.  </em>
</p><p>Then he sees his mother casting a spiteful spell among the wolves. The same stories he heard when he was a child. Except when he thought it was done for the coven’s protection, it was actually her revenge to get back at the hybrid who refused to take his child as an offering… him. He sees Jiwon’s exact reaction when he receives the head of the pack Alpha he was protecting, those of which he thought could be his new family, his army. </p><p>And right then, Hanbin understood. It was anything but Jiwon’s fault. </p><p>"He should've killed her." Hanbin turns his head to find the source of the voice which was awfully familiar. </p><p>"Who are you?" He asks hesitantly, trudging towards wherever he thinks the voice might be. </p><p>"If Jiwon had killed your mother, you wouldn't have been here," the voice continues. </p><p>"Show yourself!" Hanbin shouts in desperation, frustrated that he couldn't see who he's talking to yet he seems to know whose voice it belongs to surprisingly. </p><p>"You wouldn't have suffered in the hands of your own coven. He would've done you a favor." </p><p>He hears slow steps coming his way, and Hanbin raises his hand to cover his face from the light and stop it from blinding him. </p><p>"Didn't you wish for death to come your way all those years in the coven?" </p><p>The figure comes nearer and Hanbin holds his breath when he recognizes who's in front of him. </p><p>"If you die right now, I'm sure you wouldn't have regrets," the man smirks. </p><p>It was him. </p><p>Another Kim Hanbin in flesh. Except this one had magic of his own because when he lifts his hand and whispers a spell, all the mirrors around him break into thousand pieces, crashing loudly like waves until they all turn into dust. </p><p>Until it was just the two of them. </p><p>Him and himself. </p><p> </p><p>///////</p><p> </p><p>“Hanbin!” Jiwon tries to call for the witch, ignoring all the reflections he was being shown to until now. </p><p>“Kim Hanbin!” He shouts, and at first he thought it was only because he was under the impression of the witch playing tricks on him. But there’s a gnawing worry on his chest, eating him up inside. He promised he'd protect him, yet Hanbin’s out there all alone. Jiwon tries to focus on the signal his ring was giving him. Hanbin couldn’t have been that far. </p><p>It was giving him nothing. </p><p>Until there was a shout. A call back, the witch’s voice he had become familiar with. “Jiwon!” It was ear-splitting. </p><p>Jiwon ducks in reflex when the mirrors around him shatter. All the pieces of Hanbin’s reflection fade away, as if corroding through the years, and then gone forever. He opens his eyes to a total darkness. </p><p>There’s that voice again.</p><p>
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</p><p>“He’s coming to get you,” the <em> other </em> Hanbin says, staring at him as if weighing down his emotions. Hanbin shows him nothing, keeping his stance. He doesn’t know what will happen to him if he says one thing wrong but he’s willing to take the risk. Somehow, he hopes Jiwon is safe.</p><p>Hanbin tilts his head when an energy seems to be replenished inside of him, coursing through his veins like another bloodstream. He keeps himself from gasping, eyes focused on the entity who looks exactly like him. “You’re the blood,” he tells him with confidence, and he knows he’s right. He just doesn’t know how and why.</p><p>“I am,” his likeness smiles, and his eyes glowed like that of roses, or rubies, red and morbid, enough to send chills down his spine. What kind of monster he is facing right now he doesn’t know. “Whether or not you can take me, only the hybrid can answer that.”</p><p>Hanbin doesn’t hide the confusion in his face, and it gets even more complicated when he was sent kneeling down on his knees out of his will, his hands are forcefully tied on his back by some kind of magic he couldn’t see, when he looks up to check if he was already left alone, his likeness was in the same position as him: on his knees with his hands behind him, like two hostages in an abandoned building. Except the other <em> him </em> was smiling before he shouted a name similar to that of asking for help. </p><p>“Jiwon!”</p><p>
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</p><p>The hybrid hyper-focused on the sound he was getting, and he was led to a dim-lit room with the strong smell of witches attacking his senses. Jiwon immediately realizes it was magic. The heightened hearing stopped, the energy on the ring he was focusing on gradually subsides, a ring of gold circles around his eyes and he closes them until they vanish. It seems like he has temporarily lost his vampirism and was left to work with only his wolf side. Jiwon smirks. <em> Not bad Kim Hanbin. </em></p><p>He hides the surprise on his face when he sees two men kneeling down before him with their hands tied from behind. Two witches. Two Kim Hanbins. Jiwon comes closer, crouching down too to level with them. He found it amusing now. “So,” he opens his mouth to say, lips in a perpetual grin. “Which one of you is my witch?”</p><p>
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</p><p>There’s an ear-splitting smile on Jiwon’s face that irks Hanbin to the core. Here he was, in an almost life and death situation, with a doppelgänger hiding Jung Chanwoo’s blood somewhere in his body. Hanbin glares at him when he asks which one of them is <em> his </em> witch. But he stops himself from speaking, biting on his tongue until he could taste a little bit of his own blood. </p><p>“I actually thought it’ll be harder to get to Jung Chanwoo’s blood, given the fact that the bastard has set up a whole maze with mirrors showing how much he fucking abhors non-purebloods while going as far as calling them abominations when he himself hides in a lair all alone all his life. Pathetic.” </p><p>He hears spite behind his voice, and his heart breaks at every word he exclaims. </p><p>“But I suppose this shit’s easier than expected, hmm?” there goes the crazy grin again. Hanbin shivers. “There are two Hanbins in front of me. Is it my lucky day?” he chuckles while shaking his head. Hanbin refrains from scoffing, holding his breath when Jiwon comes closer to him. “But only one gets to live right?”</p><p>That he doesn’t know of. There’s panic in his eyes, and he sees panic in his likeness’s eyes too, as if mimicking him, mocking him. If Jiwon makes one wrong move he’s dead. Hanbin realizes he doesn’t trust him enough for this.</p><p>“Do any of you, two Hanbins, have anything to say?” Jiwon rubs his palms together in a sinister way, liking whatever was unraveling before him. <em> Sick bastard. </em> “Anyone want to plead? Beg for their life?” </p><p>He moves to the other Hanbin, cradling his face on his palm. Hanbin watches them closely. It feels surreal, seeing his own self that close to the hybrid, so intimate. Except Jiwon ruins it when he says, “You know no one’s coming out of here alive, right? I’d kill both witches just to have my way. Not a single one to spare.” </p><p>And before he could protest and tell him he’s the real Kim Hanbin, Jiwon surges forward and presses his lips to his likeness. Holding him by the neck as the kiss deepens. Hanbin’s jaw drops, observing himself in a state where his own lips are met with the hybrid’s, slow and sensual, rough and bloody. And the next thing he knows, Jiwon’s other hand is pressing on his likeness’s chest, his finger clawing into his skin. He pulls it out harshly, blood splattering at his face. He disconnects their lips together and his likeness falls to the ground, lifeless. Then he directs his gaze at him, the side of his mouth rising as he flaunts the heart on his palm. </p><p>“Well?” Jiwon tilts his head but smiles welcomingly, Hanbin’s heartbeat quickens. He’s going to die next. “Stand up and release yourself, love. We got a long way to go.” He retrieves a handkerchief in his pocket and wipes his face, wrapping the heart with it after like it was a gift. </p><p>“You’re not going to kill me?” Hanbin asks in a small voice, still in shock, and still confused.</p><p>Jiwon laughs and then kneels down, attempting to brush the stray hairs off his forehead. He stops midway when Hanbin flinches. “Don’t ever let go of my hand and leave my side again,” the hybrid says. </p><p>The witch warms up to him in an instant, as if he was fire thawing the ice out of him. “H-how’d you know it was me?” he asks, surprised that he was able to siphon off the necklace again. His powers are coming back. He frees himself in an instant.</p><p>“You wouldn’t have kissed me back.”</p><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please leave a comment if you got a question, or if you wanna say something. I'll appreciate it a lot and it would help me know that people are reading this. Thank you so much!</p><p>I'm here sometimes: <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/bootleglies">@bootleglies</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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